A Deal with Death
by Writer-of-many-subjects
Summary: Another Kira had popped up and was dealt with by a woman in the FBI. When she's given the chance to go back in time and stop Kira from being such a prevalent figure in the world, she takes it. She just didn't know that she would be sent back as a child to grow and gather her evidence to put the first Kira behind bars. She just needs all the time she could get to gather it.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Death Note, in fact I had left this fandom only to be dragged back screaming and I thought I would bring out all along with me. Yet, here we are. So, please enjoy.

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一

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25th, December, XXXX

Loud clacking filled the room as long, pale fingers flew across the keyboard of a laptop. Lines of code appeared on the screen as the fingers continued their crusade against the keyboard. The fingers in question belonged to a female with short red hair that hung in her face and hid it from prying eyes. She paused for a brief second to think before going back to typing, her mouth betraying her expression as she lightly chewed on her bottom lip with straight, white teeth.

"You need to hurry up, we don't have much time," A man with short blonde hair snapped, his pale blue eyes darting from side to side as he surveyed the room they were in.

It was dark and puddles of water were scattered across the concrete floor. The water reflected the soft light that emanated from screen of the laptop. It easily allowed the man to see the uniform that they wore. The dark uniform of an American swat team was easily shown in the small amount of pale light. The small splatters of blood on the uniforms were discernable due to the slightly darker splotches on the navy-blue material.

"I know, but the boss deserves to know that there's another one," She said, her voice a soft monotone as she sent a quick email to their boss, "If he knows about it then he won't send another team into the building."

"The world went so many years without a Kira," The man muttered as he pressed his hand to his hip where there was a pistol holstered, "It's almost impossible to believe that another one would pop up like this."

"Kira was an internet phenomenon that people have never been able to forget," She quietly explained, her eyes focused on the screen in front of her as she typed another line of code, "Granted, he did exist at some point, every Kira that has come after him has been nothing but a mockery of the original."

"You used the Kira case as a template for investigations on your thesis, didn't you?" The man softly asked.

"They also use it in recruitment for investigators," She answered, she was dodging the question, "Only a few of us could solve who did it, the information was never leaked onto the internet."

"So, who was Kira?" The man asked with a slight frown.

"Well, since we're most likely going to die," She muttered to herself before speaking up, "It was Yagami Light, and the second Kira was Amane Misa."

He stared at her for a few seconds. He was unwilling to believe that the famous Japanese model who committed suicide had been the second Kira. She stopped typing and looked at him, and his eyes widened. Her hair had moved enough to where he could see one of her eyes. The hazel eyes were serious. She slowly looked back to her laptop and continued to type her code, why she was doing it he didn't really know. He continued to stare at her as she finished. A loud beeping sound came from her laptop.

"I want you to retreat," She ordered him as she stood up, brushing off the knees of her pants, "She'll come through that door any minute now, your face has been shown to her from every angle, mine hasn't."

"You were working with Near's successors, weren't you?" The man questioned, "I was wondering who you worked with, you weren't a normal agent."

"You are smarter than you think you are," She informed him as she pulled her helmet on and he headed towards the nearest exit, "Turn on your earpiece and you'll hear my plan as I explain it to Kira."

He hesitated at the door before running off. She turned and looked out the window. A small smile appeared on her face as she watched a small figure dressed in navy-blue run out of the door to the building they were in. She heard footsteps coming towards her and leaned down to pick up her laptop. She had it held within her left hand as she looked towards the door as it slowly opened.

"Aww, where's the other one?" A female voice whined in a childish tone .

"Drop the cutesy, you aren't fooling anyone," She replied, "Isn't that right, sister?"

The female who had entered the room looked towards her with angry red eyes. They pierced through the dark room that had been illuminated by the laptop. The female was identical to the woman, save for the eyes. The temperament was off as well, there was a falseness to the female that was hard to place. A smirk spread across her face the woman let out a soft sound of annoyance.

"It's nice to see you again, So-phi-e~," Her sister sang out as she walked towards the swat woman, her expression then changed into a sneer, "Still as single as ever I see."

"Is that all that matters to you, Kelly," Sophie replied as she tightened her grip on her laptop, "Besides, with people like you running around you make it difficult for me to even think about leaving my office."

"That's right," Kelly cheered in a falsetto, "You were asked by one of Near's successors to be a stand in for L, how's that treating you?"

She was met with silence after that and Kelly finally looked towards her sister. Sophie had pulled up the visor to her helmet and allowed her eyes to be seen. Sophie was glaring at her sister and slowly moved her laptop around. The screen was lit up with red letters and Kelly's eyes widened at the sight of a countdown. Her eyes flickered above her sister's head and she saw the numbers steadily counting down at a speed that she had never seen before.

"I believe this is checkmate," Sophie said, she let out a soft cough and blood came over the visor, "This building is rigged to explode, with me and you in it."

"You bitch!" Kelly screamed, "You'd commit suicide to stop me!?"

"Kira needs to be stopped by any means necessary," Sophie replied, her voice strained.

Kelly stared at her sister with wide eyes as she noticed something she hadn't before. Her left side was bleeding heavily and staining the dark material black. Sophie began to slowly walk towards her sister. Kelly backed up into a wall and paused when her sister's head thumped into the wall as her strength to keep it up started to fade.

"You really are stupid, you know that?" Sophie softly asked, "Then again, I should've been able to tell that you were going to go off the deep end, you always did have that god complex."

"Remember that time those kids were making fun of the way that you talked?" Kelly questioned in a tone that was softer than her previous ones, she looked down at the laptop.

"Yes, I also remember them dying a year ago," Sophie muttered as she turned her, "You were too careless, that was enough for me to figure out that you were Kira."

"You brought that information to your boss," Kelly murmured, "No wonder he allowed you to have a team of swat members to take me out."

Sophie choked out a chuckle before more blood came out of her mouth. The laptop began to rapidly beep, and Kelly tried to make a run for it. A small hand, which was deceptively strong, wrapped around her bicep and she was kept in place as the beeping increased its frequency. She started to struggle as she heard the first explosive go off.

The building shook as the explosives went off in quick succession. She barely had time to figure out what was going on when the one connected to the laptop went off, engulfing the two sisters in flames. The building went up in a plume of smoke the debris rained on the ground.

The last surviving swat member felt the small pieces of concrete hitting the top of his head as he tried to catch his breath. He looked towards the spot where the building had been, and his eyes widened as he stared at the billowing smoke. His expression softened and he looked down towards the ground as he removed the earpiece. He had heard everything said between the two. He sighed and ran a hand through his short hair.

He had joined his career path to make sure that people like them didn't have to face such tragedies in their lives. He looked back towards the plume of smoke and wondered if Sophie would've joined the swat team if things had been different. He made a face as he wondered if that was even her real name. He didn't get the chance to think about it as an ambulance drove up followed by a firetruck.

"This world," A female voice rang out and he paused as he heard it, his eyes widening in shock, "Is completely wrong."

He let out a sharp breath of surprise and looked around. That voice…it had been Sophies voice. He heard a pleasant chuckle and looked towards the source, a woman was standing right next to him and staring up at the smoke. She had the red hair that he was used to, and between two long fingers was a few strands of it. She slowly let the strands drop from her relaxed fingers before turning her head to face him. Hazel eyes had taken on a slightly blueish hue and a small, sad smile was playing on her face.

"This world is this way because of Kira," She continued, he stared at her as people rushed past him and one even went through her, he saw her expression change into something more serious, "This tragedy could've been avoided if he had been stopped sooner…I'm willing to go back and try just that."

He couldn't help but think this was _her_ spirit. He stared at her as she turned back to the plume and let out a soft hum. Her hands went into her pockets and he couldn't help the slight wince that crossed his face. The mannerisms were there, it really was her. He watched as a breeze blew through her hair, but he felt nothing. He let out a soft sigh and looked towards the dark grey sky, clouds had begun to roll up and as the first drop of rain hit his face he looked back towards her. It was like she was waiting to hear his opinion, and it meant a lot to him.

"I agree, so many lives would've been saved if he had been stopped," He muttered, and she gave him a tiny smile at that admission, "I would go with you, but I'm needed here to do damage control."

"I understand…you also have a family," She murmured as she brought one of her hands out of her pockets and gently tapped a finger against her chin in thought, "I guess I'll have to make sure that I get substantial evidence against Yagami Light before Amane Misa is even in the picture."

A few people dressed in first responders' uniforms dragged him away and towards the ambulance. Sophie watched with a small smile on her face as she turned towards the sickly-thin woman in a dark suit waiting for her. The woman had blazing red eyes that belonged to creatures that dealt with death, and feather like black hair that was pinned to her left so that she could see. She looked a tad bored as Sophie finally walked up to her.

"I'll accept your offer," Sophie said, "But I have several conditions"

"You some form of immunization from the Death Note," the woman said in a bored voice, and Sophie caught sight of an earpiece.

"Yes, well I did destroy one in the process of killing myself and Kira," Sophie muttered.

"I suppose that is true," the woman agreed before a slightly annoyed look appeared on her face, "Death has gotten annoyed at the Shinigami King for allowing his subordinates to drop their notebooks like this."

"It does look rather annoying to reap more souls than needed," Sophie said with a look of understanding, "I can't blame them for their annoyance at this, wasn't the last time one of the notebooks caused Death such stress the years where the black death was prominent?"

"We chose correctly," the woman smirked, "I will warn you that you'll have to start at the very beginning."

"That's fine," Sophie said as her eyes slowly turned red, "I would just like a basic rundown of everything before going there."

She let a soft smile appear on her face as the woman held out a hand to her. She brought one up and easily took the offered hand and gave it a small shake. The woman drew her hand back after a few seconds and snapped her fingers. The area surrounding them disappeared and she put her hands into the pockets of her pants.

"What you choose to do and what happens is up to you," the woman explained as she began to walk, "You can save those who you wish, or you can kill them yourself."

"If I'm going back to change things, why would I kill someone?" She asked.

"Human's have a bad habit of becoming corrupt with power," the woman answered with ease, "But, I don't know if you'll have that problem."

"I don't think I want to ask about that right now," She said as she frowned, "What exactly will I be able to do?"

"The eyes of a reaper, or shinigami in this case, will allow you to see the name and lifespan of everyone around you," the woman replied, "Your hearing has also been enhanced because it will benefit you in the long run. Other abilities will begin to appear as you grow older do _not_ panic when they do, you'll just make things worse."

"I understand," She nodded, "My name…it no longer exists doesn't it?"

"Yes, one that is immune to the death note has no name," the woman answered, "This is your stop, go through the red door."

Sophie gave a nod at that and slowly began to walk towards the red door. She chanced a glance around the area and noted the grey smoke. It smelled like a building fire, and she repressed a shiver at the thought. She was about to look back towards the woman when a sudden thought hit her. What if her chance was ruined because she did? She couldn't help but think back to the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. She wouldn't put it past Death to have set up something like that.

She reached towards the black doorknob and flinched back upon feeling the hot metal. She frowned and grasped onto it and flung the door open. Her mind was a torrent of information, and one little tidbit stood out. She could possibly save L.

She realized that was unlikely. Perhaps some things were unchangeable, fixated in time. It didn't mean that she wouldn't try. She knew that she needed to catch Kira, but to do so on her terms and in a way that supernatural evidence could be used against him in a court. She closed her eyes and began to make plans as she lifted a foot and walked through the door. It was a blind leap of faith.

She heard the thundering sounds of hundreds of footsteps and she realized that she could feel a beat in her chest.

She opened her eyes and noticed that everything around her had grown taller. She looked down at her body and realized that first deduction had been wrong, she had grown smaller. She glanced at her feet and noticed the small mary jane shoes that were on them. She was dressed as a child, in clothes that she had always hated. She let out a soft sigh and looked to her left.

Well, she was in a city, that much she could tell by the smell. She tilted her head to listen to the voices that came from the nearby street. She was in a British city and judging by the regional accent she was in London. Upper London to be exact by the posh accents that she could make out. She began to play with her hair, something she had picked up from one of Near's successors. He had always played with his hair and she had unconsciously picked up that habit while she thought, that and chewing on her thumbnail. Honestly, it almost annoyed her to have such a habit.

"I better make sure I'm in London." She muttered before heading out of the small alley way she was in.

She reached the main road and noticed all the small shops in the area. All in English. She then noticed the fashion. It was all eighties. She made a face at the appearance of the shoulder pads and was quite glad that it never made a comeback in her time. She clenched the pink skirt of her dress at the sight of the large crowds and continued walking.

Her gaze flicked to the spot above people's heads where she could see letters and numbers floating there. She was surrounded by English names, and some Indian names as well, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She could work with English, and some parts of France, but she couldn't work with Japan. She barely knew the language and knew that she'd have to work to learn it if she wanted to catch Kira.

A man sprinted past her and she paused as she saw his numbers going down. She walked after him and watched as he met up with a taller woman. Both of their numbers were going up and down in quick succession. The woman caught sight of her, and she simply looked away, she was already caught looking at her she didn't need to act as though she hadn't been looking.

"What's a kid doing out here?" The man murmured as he looked at the red headed child.

Sophie slowly looked towards him in slight annoyance as she walked past them. She didn't really care who they were, it wasn't any of her business. She paused when she heard the clicking of a gun. Her eyes widened when she realized why their life spans were changing so rapidly. She moved quickly and tackled the man to the ground as a small hole appeared in the tree that had been behind him.

Her eyes began to move like crazy and she saw a name that was on a building a mile away. She got up and moved to the side as another bullet came towards her. She was used to this, her training for the swat team had prepared her for moments like this. She moved to the tree and hid behind it.

"How did a kid figure out there was a shooter?" The man asked.

"Because she's observant," The woman replied, "Are you telling me that you've never met an observant kid, Inspector?"

"I have, but even then, the kid wasn't able to tell if there was a shooter around," The inspector snapped in annoyance.

The woman hummed at that and moved towards Sophie. Sophie barely reacted as she kept an ear out for how many rounds were shot at them. There were five, which was the standard for a sniper rifle. She got up from behind the tree and moved towards the building. She quietly contemplated how idiotic her plan was, it would work better if she was an adult. She had to ignore that fact at once, it didn't do to dwell on such thoughts. The two adults were following her, and she rolled her eyes.

"No way," The inspector said as she started up the stairs.

She noticed that her body was starting to hurt, and her lungs were burning. Her body wasn't used to the amount of physical activity that she was currently putting it through. She was straining herself to catch the person who was shooting. She didn't slow down even as her body screamed at her to do so. She hit the final stretch of stairs and rammed into the door, effectively opening it.

"So, it is just a kid," the shooter said in a surprised tone, his voice gruff due to years of smoking cigarettes, "He definitely won't like this."

"Your boss," She muttered as she took deep breaths, "A mob boss? No, you are a bit too talented for the likes of a mob boss, then a secret organization."

The shooter started to laugh at that. It was a mad cackle and after a few seconds he suddenly stopped. The mad expression was still on his face and she watched as his life span dropped to zero. So, there was a death note in the world before Kira. She continued to breathe heavily and looked at the man with a surprised expression as the adults behind her appeared.

"No way, a heart attack?" The Investigator murmured,

"You might want to make evidence of this," Sophie said as she turned towards him, "There was no prior symptoms of a regular heart attack, he was fine until a few seconds ago."

"A healthy heart like his wouldn't have a spontaneous heart attack without some underlying conditions," the woman agreed before she turned to the man, "Make a file for this and bring it around my flat."

"Are you trying to give your husband a heart attack?" the investigator murmured.

"No, a child," The woman laughed as she put a hand on Sophie's shoulder.

The Investigator went to say something but stopped. He studied the child and noticed the dirty clothes. The sweat that was rolling down her face was going through dirt and making trails. She looked at him and he was welcomed to blazing red eyes that peered at him from behind hair of an identical shade. She was analyzing him just as he was her. He had heard of an orphanage that catered to intelligent orphans. She could be sent to such a place, but as he watched as the woman talked to the child he knew that there would be no chance for that.

"I'll create the paperwork," he sighed.

"Thank you," She chirped as she began to lead the child towards the elevator of the building.

He grumbled about something as the door closed behind the two. Sophie looked at the inside of the elevator as her heart continued to rapidly beat. She may have pushed too much in such a short amount of time. She could hear the blood rushing through her veins. It was starting to get a bit difficult to hear anything.

"So, what's your name?" The woman asked her.

Sophie looked at the reflective walls of the elevator and noticed that her name was nowhere to be found above her head, Death had gone through with their bargin. She realized that she didn't want to be Sophie Pierre anymore. She wanted to leave that name behind since it had brought her nothing but sadness. She closed her eyes and thought of other names that began with an S. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips at the thought of a famous name.

"Skyler Ajax," She answered, "Sky for short, but please call me S."

"S, so you are an inspiring detective," The woman murmured.

"And you are?" Sky asked, she already knew but wanted to be polite.

"Antionette Holmes," The woman replied.

Sky let out a soft hum at that as she finally got her heart rate to something normal. The elevator dinged and she got out of it with the woman when she allowed the strange circumstance to hit her. The woman was adopting her. They were both too like one another, and she knew that she would catch the attention of someone.

They walked to a small apartment complex in upper London and she was welcomed to a homey inside. She was led upstairs and was welcomed to the sight of a man sitting in a plump, red armchair reading a newspaper. She forgot what those had looked like. No one really read them back in her time. It was weird to see such things; it was like one of her friends who had continued to use a VCR well into his thirties and refused to part with it since it had belonged to his grandmother. He had a habit of recording movies off the pay per view channels.

"Who's this?" The man asked as he studied her.

"This is Skyler Ajax," Antionette replied, "She doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"It's nice to meet you sir," Skyler said as she looked above his head.

John Holmes, huh. She wondered if some form of God had decided to play a cruel joke on her. She smiled at him as he held out a hand and introduced himself. She slowly accepted it and gave it a small shake. Antionette sighed at the sight, and then looked towards her husband.

"She's borrowing one of your jumpers," Antionette stated as she began to steer Skyler to a bathroom.

"What?" John asked, as he followed.

"Borrowing the jumper," She replied.

"But-"

"Nope, borrowing it."

"You wouldn't let me win this argument even if I begged."

"Of course not."

"Thought so."

Skyler had watched that exchange with slight amusement on her face. She had a white jumper thrown at her head and she slowly shuffled into the bathroom with it covering her face. She wasn't bothered by it and closed the door behind her as she listened to the two talk to one another. Her eyes narrowed at the words that were being said, so Antionette couldn't have children. It explained why she was acting the way she was.

Skyler removed the dress and shoes and noticed that she has some light scarring on her body. Her side had the scar of a bullet wound right where she had been shot before she died. She brought a hand up and gently pressed against the scar before shaking her head and starting a shower. It didn't take her long to get clean and get out of the shower. She put on the jumper and held onto her dirty clothes. She opened the door and peeked her head out.

"Miss Antionette," She called, and the woman turned to look at her, "Where do I put my dirty clothes?"

"In the hamper at the end of the hall." Was the answer.

"Thank you." She thanked before taking it to the end of the hall and tossing her dirty clothes in the hamper.

She walked past the two adults who were still arguing and took a seat at their table. It was against a wall and nowhere near a window. If there were any more snipers she wouldn't want to be in the pathway of a bullet. She began to play with her hair as she thought and slowly crossed her legs as she leaned forward and placed her chin in the palm of her unused hand.

She was trying to remember anything about this point in time. Most of her investigation classes focused on the Kira case. All other cases had been pushed to the end of the class. There were cases like the Charles Manson case that had been shown to them to show what happened when a cult leader caused their followers to kill people. It was a fantastic way to show how manipulation could work, they even created games where one had to pretend to be a criminal to show how one could be caught.

The teachers would point out holes in the crime or even small manipulations that should be used instead of what had been. She had the problem of not knowing how to manipulate a person. She had quickly learned when the deaths of those that had bothered her as children had been shown. She knew exactly who had been behind it at that point. All it took was one mistake and she had figured it out. She stopped messing with her hair and slowly leaned forward.

For once she was tired, her eyelids felt heavy and she just wanted some sleep. She could go without sleep for a long time, but that's all she wanted to do. She placed her head against the table and closed her eyes. It didn't take her long to fall asleep and John came around the corner to check up on her to see what she was doing. His expression softened and he picked her up and placed her on the couch.

A red blanket was placed over her and she shifted in her sleep and a small smile appeared on her face. He was sold the minute he saw that. He let out a soft sigh and turned to his wife who was giving him a smug smirk. He felt as though his life was going to get far more stressful. He was going to have to wish his blonde hair a farewell, wasn't he?


	2. Chapter 2

二

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Two weeks.

That was how long she'd been stuck as a child. Sure, she may have said she was fine with starting over, but she had forgotten that people didn't take children seriously. She had taken to pointing out things that people didn't like to hear. Things such as affairs and unpleasant habits that one would rather not be public knowledge. It was one of the few things that made people take her seriously. Antoinette found it hilarious while John sent her exasperated looks.

She was still stuck borrowing jumpers from John. Her clothes had to be washed, they did laundry every two weeks. She gathered that's why the flat smelt musty, and a bit like body odor. She leaned back on the couch and glared at the ceiling.

She still hadn't found the owner of the death note. There weren't any new deaths, but she could feel that something was brewing. It almost reminded her of the _Sherlock Holmes_ series, both books and television show. She knew that it was ironic that the people who adopted her had the surname of Holmes. Hers ended up being Ajax-Holmes, seeing that she rather liked having Ajax as a surname, and caused the officers that Antionette worked with some confusion.

"Skyler, the investigator is coming over," Antionette informed her.

"Try not to insult him," John warned.

"I won't," She said as she sat up straight, "I like Marty."

"I thought his name was Marvin," Antionette muttered.

"It's Marty," Sky and John said in unison.

Antionette simply pushed some of her long brown hair over her shoulder and looked away. That was to hide the smile on her face. Her husband and her adopted daughter were remarkably similar in personality. She was smart like her and serious like him. It was a winning combination, and something that could possibly cause problems in the future. She was hoping that it wouldn't.

"I'll take her shopping," John offered, "She needs more than a single dress and borrowed jumpers."

"It isn't about a case, it's simply paperwork," Antionette butt in as she saw Sky frown.

The expression on the six-year old's face smoothed and she went back to looking towards the ceiling. Her small hand came out from the sleeve of the dark grey jumper she was wearing and went to her hair. She was curling one section of her hair around it as she thought. It was a habit that would probably be with her for the rest of her life. John understood having a quirk like that, he had seen several children that had quirks.

He watched as she got up from the sofa and walked down the hallway towards the hamper. He blinked when she walked past him with a bundle of clothes and towards the washing machine. Antionette was busy finding a pen, which would be impossible with how dirty their flat was, and missed out on her child starting a load of laundry. It was quite a feat seeing as she had to stand on a chair to even see inside the machine.

John let her be, honestly, if he had bothered her she would've given him an expression that belonged to an adult. Whenever those appeared, he felt antsy. Something wasn't right when that happened. She was six for God's sake! Not an adult that was in her twenties.

She caught his attention by jumping down from the chair and pushing it next to the dryer. She sat down and stared ahead while waiting. Her eyes glazed over as she went back to curling her hair. John slowly sat down in his armchair and grabbed a newspaper. Some information in the stock market was circled. It was the computer companies and the words next to it informed him that those types of companies would see rises in profit. He made a mental note to buy stocks in them.

Skyler looked at John from the corner of her eyes as he found the page she had written on. She looked forward and frowned slightly. Her mind was brought back to her current case. Finding the death note and making evidence about it. If she could get a witness and some recording equipment and catch the owner in the act, then she would have a solid case.

She already made plans for Yagami Light. He had gone after Raye Pember and that had been documented on his personal computer. She knew the date and year, she just needed to make a name for herself in the detective world. She also needed to meet L and gain some of his trust. If she could stop him from abusing human rights, which should've had him thrown in jail years ago if she was being perfectly honest, then she had a chance of getting things done in a way that was perfectly legal.

Her life had gotten difficult, but she welcomed the challenge. She smiled slightly at that thought before it fell. She could make a world for her sister where the Death Note was considered a weapon of war and highly illegal. She needed a computer to see if her family line even existed anymore. She tugged on her hair at that thought, it would be annoying if they didn't, yet understandable.

The washing machine finished its load and she quickly moved the wet clothes over to the dryer. She hopped off her chair and went to grab more laundry and started another load. She was tired of the musty smell. If no one else was going to do the laundry, then she would.

She felt her skin crawl at the sight of how dirty the flat was. Her apartment had been minimalistic and extremely clean. She was considered a neat freak that probably had some form of OCD, which was a rumor seeing as she was tested for it and the test was negative, but she didn't care. It was why she rarely got sick. Her home was clean to the point where you could eat off the floor without fear of sickness.

"Please add cleaning supplies and organization items to the shopping list," She informed John.

He chuckled at that and she tilted her head to stare him down. He slowly tensed as he felt her eyes on him before he gave a slow nod. She turned her attention towards Antionette as she searched for a pen. She quietly sighed and got off her chair and walked up to the mantle. She stood up on the tips of her toes and reached for the pen that was up there.

Her tongue stuck out from between her teeth as she reached. Eventually, her fingers brushed against the pen and she used that to gently push it to an angle that she could reach it. She brought the pen down and walked over to Antionette and pulled on her trousers. Antionette stopped and looked at her before smiling and accepting the pen.

Skyler gave a small smile back before heading towards her laundry. The basket had been overflowing and she was slowly washing everything. The inspector wasn't due until lunch, so she spent those four hours doing laundry. Antionette and John watched as she even folded everything into small sizes and placed them in the right rooms. Skyler was grateful that she had binged watched Marie Kondo's show on Netflix and learned how to be more organized when it came to clothing. Marie's method had made everything so much easier. It allowed her to have more space to put things.

"She's a bit of a neat child," John commented.

He almost said freak but had paused upon seeing his wife shoot him a dirty look. He knew better than to risk her ire. She had taken down men far stronger than he, and she liked him. He coughed slightly, and he liked not sleeping on the couch.

"It's a good habit to have," Antionette stated as she looked around the dirty flat, "We've been slacking off."

"Yes, well, the patients at the hospital have increased in numbers," He said as Skyler started another load.

"And cases picked up," She added her expression became stony as she thought, "It's like someone is trying to get my attention."

"Are you sure?" He asked with a frown.

"Yes, the criminals are acting strange," She confirmed and neither of them noticed the red headed child pause in her actions, "Some of them acted out of character when being confronted before dying."

Skyler felt relieved and less stressed. It was a notebook. She looked towards the wall and narrowed her eyes. She knew that the notebook allowed the victim to be manipulated to an extent, but it had a time limit. _Twenty-three days_, the twenty-three-day rule.

She blinked at that. She had never heard of that. She slowly began to think of the rules of the notebooks. She realized that she knew all of them, but she hadn't beforehand. It made sense, to hunt down a book used to kill others one needed to know the signs and rules. It was another one of those abilities that the woman had warned her about. She had to remind herself not to stress or panic about it, and it was easy due to it being an understandable ability.

She began to fold the dry clothes as she thought about the notebook even more. It was a simple thing the title could be written in any language, but she'd know what it looked like. It was a small black notebook; it didn't have a spiral spine, and it usually had the white letters scrawled across the cover. That made it something easy to find. She folded a pair of trousers and frowned slightly.

That was part of what made it so dangerous. It was easy to find, and it caught the attention of people. A notebook that could kill people. That was a temptation that many people couldn't fight. She felt her expression drop. The death note brought pain and suffering to those who used it.

With how her sister ended up…she believed that sentence while heartedly. She finished folding the clothes and simply paused as she thought about her sister. She had put off thinking about the slightly older girl for two weeks. She didn't want to acknowledge the guilt that was constantly on the edge of her thoughts, it was her failure to protect her sister and she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to face it.

She sighed and thought back to something a teacher had once said. _It was once said that twins come from the same soul that was ripped into halves, it has been theorized that when one dies the others soul is completed_. She had never found the theory he had been talking about. Sometimes she wondered if there was some truth to his words.

Kelly had been outgoing and popular when they were growing up. Whereas Skyler had been the soft-spoken introvert that had anxiety attacks when in large groups of people. She even had a slight speech impediment as a child that caused her R's to sound like W's. She had fixed that.

Her sister had grown a god complex by the time they entered junior high, and she didn't blame her. They came from a well-off family and people had flattered her sister to try and get things out of her. Skyler was lucky enough that she was an outcast, but Kelly had preened under the attention and had allowed that complex to grow. She had once brought it up to her mother, only to be shrugged off. It grew even more since that day until…her mind supplied the memory and she finally felt the full extent of her grief.

"What's wrong, Sky?" John asked as he noticed tears going down Sky's face.

He went into Doctor mode and quickly rushed towards her. Once he knelt, she flung her arms around his chest and buried her face into his shirt. He knew at once that something was wrong. For two weeks she had never sought out physical affection, she usually shied away from it. One time he had gone to pat her head and she had flinched away as if he was going to hit her.

"Sky? What's wrong darling?" Antionette asked, her motherly instincts kicking into maximum at the sight of a crying child.

Skyler simply shook her head and just cried. For once she just wanted to be held by someone and comforted. Her own biological parents had never done that. They were cold to their children, her twin sister and herself. She knew it came from the fact that they hadn't wanted children, and only kept them due to the bad publicity they would've gotten.

John knew a touched starved child when he saw one. He gave Antionette a serious look and she knelt and wrapped her arms around the two. Skyler's crying increased from quiet tears to full on body wracking sobs. She tightened her hold on John and he slowly wondered if she was going to be okay. She slowly began to talk through her sobs.

"I…I lost my sister…" Skyler began to say through her tears.

Her voice was cracking due to her emotional state and he noticed that the action of crying seemed to have helped her a bit. Antionette looked towards a nearby street camera and narrowed her eyes at it. She gently removed herself from her husband and adopted child. She had something she needed to do quick.

"I'll be back," She announced.

John gave a curt nod at that as he fully wrapped his arms around Skyler and held her close. She finally did something a normal child would do. She broke down. It wasn't unheard of, people liked to bury their emotions more often than they acknowledge them. He wondered just how long she'd been pushing that grief down.

"Let's get changed and go enjoy a day out." John said in a calm tone.

Sky gave a small nod at that and he stood up, bringing her with him. She swung her legs a little bit before releasing him and landing on both feet. She walked out of sight to the empty room that was hers. He moved towards a small table that held his wallet and keys.

Skyler closed the door to her room and gained a contemplative expression on her face. She hadn't cried since she was little…could she even say that? She was little. A child's body and mind shouldn't have to push down grief and horrible memories. She was an adult that was forced back into adolescence. What she could do as an adult with her emotions was harder to do as a child. Her body had betrayed her and let those tears escape.

She swallowed and winced at the pain that came from her throat. Her throat had constricted when she cried and now it was going to be sore for a few hours, she brought a hand up to her face and used the back of it to wipe her still runny nose. She quickly changed and grabbed another load of laundry, this one consisting of Jumpers.

John blinked as she tossed a load of jumpers into the washing machine before turning to him with a slightly shy expression. She seemed more uncertain of things than she had before. He knew that a child's emotional maturity was subject to change and he was seeing that in action. The adult like child was finally showing childlike traits. She was unsure of herself.

He held out a hand and she slowly grabbed it. He led the way outside and noticed that his wife was talking- which was really yelling at- to his brother-in-law. The tall man, with the same pale skin and mahogany brown hair as his sister, caught his eye and narrowed his own. The man held a "minor" position in the government and kept causing problems for the two.

Skyler saw that exchange and let out a soft sigh. Martin Holmes, she had forgotten about this politician. He had been murdered by the first Kira for unlawful practices. He had been framed for accepting bribes, and then the information that he had been innocent was released to the public. Kira lost supporters in England for that. It showed that he believed his justice to be the only kind, and once one was judged under it the decision was final.

She ignored those thoughts and simply enjoyed the walk. It was cold outside, but she wasn't bothered by it. When she had died, she had been much colder. She looked up towards the sky and wondered if it was going to snow. She would like to enjoy a white Christmas. It didn't really snow where she had lived.

"Are you excited for the holidays?" John asked her.

"I'm hoping that it'll snow," She admitted, "I rather like the snow."

"As do I," John admitted, and he got a smile from her as they entered a department store.

He watched as she looked around the building. She was finding every possible exit from the building before she finally relaxed and looked around with wide eyes. She brought a hand up to her mouth and gently tapped against her lips with her pointer finger. He began to lead her through the building.

Skyler looked around with a slight frown. She was unsure what she wanted to wear. She wanted both light and dark themed clothes for certain times of the year. John had released her hand as she stopped and watched as she looked at the boy's shirts. She was looking at the graphic t-shirts. He blinked when she walked around the display and disappeared.

He slowly began to look for her and saw that she was looking at long sleeved dress shirts and jumpers. She found her size and went with the next size up. She had picked out dark and light colors, mainly whites, grays, and blacks with a little red thrown in there. He simply followed as she picked out what she needed.

She was surprising him at how self-sufficient she continued to be. She was acting like her little breakdown had never happened. It wasn't a healthy way to live, but it worked for her. She looked up to him and her hair moved so he could see her eyes. It was a sign of respect, not that she would ever tell him that. She was going to like making him guess.

"You want any toys?" He asked.

She frowned at that and gave a slight shrug. She had one toy back when she was a child and it was a large stuffed bear. It had never left her bed and she still cuddled with it into her adult life. She didn't think she could ask for something like that.

"What kind of animals do you like?" He asked.

"Polar bears," She mumbled, her cheeks a bright red due to her embarrassment.

He blinked at that and looked towards the toy section as she found a pair of pajamas. She watched from the corner of her eyes as he walked towards it. She began to twirl a piece of hair around her finger as she walked through the clothing racks. She was trying to figure out who could have a notebook. It was someone with a history of crime. She tugged on the piece of hair in slight frustration.

This person owned a syndicate or was used to running a business. She bit her lip slightly as she came across a long-sleeved white shirt. She picked it up and looked at some of the sweaters she had grabbed. She added it to her pile and decided that it would make a wonderful night shirt to wear with her pajama pants. She almost buckled under the weight of the clothes in her arms but pushed through it.

She let out a small sigh as she began to think of ways to catch the person using the Death Note. She didn't have access to any explosives, or a team of investigators that could help with surveillance. She was stuck trying to figure this out without any outside help. She could do it; it just wasn't a fun thing to do. She started to wonder how L was able to solve all those cases on his own without losing his mind. She looked off to the side to see if John was still in the toy section.

He was and she let out the smallest of sighs. She was thinking about someone she wouldn't be meeting for a while. She began to walk around the store and found herself in the sports section. A small hand came out from under the pile of clothes and picked up a small fencing sword. She was surprised to see one in this store. With a flick of her wrist she let out a parry.

She let a genuine smile on her face as she looked at the small sword. She had enjoyed fencing to not be at home. Her Sister had done tennis and she closed her eyes at that thought. She could do both, though she was rather horrible at tennis, and work on her case at the same. She didn't even need to enter under a false name since she had the immunity to the death note. She didn't have an immunity to humans shooting her.

"This got too problematic," She muttered as she looked around for John.

She made a face as she went to find him. He was still in the toy section and was looking at different stuffed toys. She blinked as he picked up a rather large white bear with a strawberry in its paws. She made a face as she looked at it and couldn't help the smile that came to her face. It was nice to see that people listened to her.

"There you are," She said in an exasperated tone.

He jumped in surprise and she gave him an impish smile. He tossed the bear onto the top of her clothes pile and watched as she began to lean forward due to the weight. He chuckled at her disgruntled expression and began to lead her to the cash register. The worker in charge of it was a young blonde woman with bored green eyes who simply raised a thin brow at the image of a young child carrying a giant pile of clothes with a stuffed polar bear on the top of it.

"Is this your kid?" She asked John.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" He questioned with a slight frown.

"No, she's rather adorable," She said.

John gave her a look as she began to quickly scan the items. He heard a quiet snickering coming from behind him and looked down to see a grinning Skyler. He rolled his eyes and smiled at the woman behind the register as he handed over his card to pay for the purchases. He wondered how many patients he had to see to even think of paying off this purchase. He saw the childish glee on Skyler's face as the woman handed over the stuffed bear and he found that it was worth it.

They headed back to the flat, he was holding her hand as she clutched that bear to her side. They stopped when they saw Antionette smoking a cigarette outside on the stairs. She looked angry, so they just headed inside. John snapped his fingers when they walked inside and made a face as Skyler looked up at him.

"I forgot the cleaning supplies," He chuckled.

"It's fine," Skyler shrugged as she looked around the flat, "We can clean next week."

He looked down at her and found himself smiling at her words. She took the bag from him and took a seat on the floor next to the washing machine and began to detag all her new clothes. He sighed and moved to put the jumpers in the drying machine on tumble dry. He knew it was time to clean up the flat, he had a kid now.

He paused in his actions and his eyes widened in surprise. He had a kid now. Oh god, he didn't even get to think about it. He just went with another one of Antionette's scheme, but this time they got a kid out of it. He looked towards his child and knew that he was going to end up as an overprotective father.

"So, have you met your uncle?" Antionette asked as she peeked into the room.

"I was ignoring him," Skyler stated with a shrug, "If he made you upset, then why would I want to talk to him?"

John blinked as he looked towards the kitchen table. There his brother-in-law was. Sitting at his table with a disgruntled expression on his face as he sipped from a cup of tea. Antionette gained a small smile as she watched Skyler put her new clothes into the washing machine by color.

"I am Martin Holmes, your uncle," Antionette's brother introduced.

"You hold a minor position in the government," Skyler stated as she looked at him with sharp eyes hidden behind her hair, "That would be a lie, seeing as you dress far too well for someone who holds a minor position, so that would make you Uncle Government."

"Did you clone yourself to have red hair?" Martin asked his sister, "Because that sounds like you before you and John got together."

"Is there a code for that?" John asked.

"Code 55DC87," The three replied in unison and he let out a sigh.

"How do you even know that?" John questioned Skyler.

"There's papers left around the entire flat that have a long list of codes on it," Skyler admitted with a slight smile, "It wasn't hard to memorize it."

"Is this why you are attempting to send my child to Burgess Hill?" Antionette asked.

"She would do well there," Martin replied as he took a sip of his tea, "Just as you did."

"I became a social recluse because the girls in that school are all superficial," Antionette hissed.

"I'm sure that's an overstatement," John and Skyler said.

"As it is, I'm sure that I'll spend most of my time in class and in sports," Skyler added, "I was thinking fencing and tennis, does this school have that?"

"Yes," Martin confirmed with a raised brow, "And you can take the tube to get there. You start Monday."

He placed a package down on the table before standing up and leaving the flat. Antionette let out a loud groan and headed towards one of the rooms while Skyler and John shared a look. Skyler was the first to approach the package and he watched as she gently lifted it. She pressed an ear to it to make sure that there wasn't anything inside of it that would explode.

She finally opened the box after performing every kind of test she could think of and inside was a school uniform. A skirt and a cardigan, both blue. She was going to clash horribly with the school colors. John let out a snort from where he was, and she sent him a look and held up the skirt and cardigan.

"I'm going to look interesting," Sky muttered as she tossed it to him so he could put it in the pile with all her new dark clothes.

She could feel her stress mounting as she thought about everything that was happening in her current situation. She was hoping to just go to a local primary school, she didn't know that her Uncle was going to send her to a private school. It was overkill.


	3. Chapter 3

三

* * *

Skyler was sitting in her room working on her homework, the ticking of her clock ringing in her ears. She was going through her homework faster than she used to. She started to pay more attention in class and made sure she was the top student, she wanted to show others that she wasn't to be messed with and it seemed to be the only way. She let out a soft sigh and looked towards her clock. She had an hour until John got home, she smiled at the fact that he would always bring her a small snack from the pastry shop outside of his work.

It had only been four weeks since she started school and without fail, he had done it every Friday. She looked back down at her homework and finished it before stretching slightly. Her back let out a slight crack and she sighed in relief as she got up from her chair and headed out of her room. She started a kettle and waited for the water to boil. She picked up a newspaper and scanned it for any sign of a death note.

There wasn't anything in there about a death caused by a death note, but there was a missing woman. She began to read the case and gave a quiet sigh. The woman was dead, she'd been missing for two weeks, but the family wasn't giving hope. She read that the car was found outside of a shopping center and remembered that the Thames was only a mile away. She read that the police were thinking about looking within the water to see if her body was in it.

This had to be done by someone she knew. The car was found in one of her usual haunts. Then again, most murders were done by people who knew the victim. It was usually motivated by greed or anger; she placed her arms on the countertop and leaned on them to watch the kettle. She had a slight frown on her face as she thought.

"If you keep frowning like that, your face will freeze," Antionette's voice said as the woman came into the kitchen.

"Sorry, Mum," Skyler apologized with a small smile before turning towards the newspaper, "The disappearance of Mary Sunders has turned into a murder case."

"It's the brother," Antionette answered as she took off her jacket, "His shoes were covered in specks of blood and he was acting shifty."

"Well done," Skyler smiled as she pulled down another teacup.

"Well, I can give some credit to you for figuring out that it was a murder without meeting anyone," Antionette stated.

Skyler gave a small, strained smile in response as she realized that they were talking about murder. She was only six. She was too far in and found herself wanting to talk to some of her classmates, who were indeed slightly spoiled. Seriously, one girl had come into show and tell day with Tiffany Diamonds. She hadn't brought anything since she was a newer student.

She finished making tea and placed a cup in front of Antionette before heading back to her room. She closed her door and went to sit at her desk to think. She needed a computer and some internet to keep up to date with her cases. She let out an annoyed sound as she figured out that she wouldn't be able to get those for a while. Antionette still did everything on paper and John was slowly learning computers so he could stay relevant in his job.

Her mind turned to L once again and she felt some respect towards him. He had been able to do so much without internet. She looked up towards the ceiling of her room and wondered when they would meet. He had supposedly lived in England for a while and might've been the five-time winner of the British Junior division.

She brought her hand up to her hair and began to twirl a piece around her fingers. She went into deep analytical thoughts about everything. She barley even reacted as John came in and placed a small box on her desk. He rolled his eyes in slight amusement as he walked out of the room.

She had some time before she would even hear of L. There was plenty of time to get S into the spotlight and gain some respect from him. She then realized that if she even took cases that she knew he had solved, then what kind of cheater would she be. No, she would let him have those cases seeing as he had enjoyed the difficulty that came with solving them.

The best way to even get in contact with him would be during the LA BB murder case. She narrowed her eyes in thought and stopped playing with her hair. That would be a perfect time to meet him, if it happened before hand then she couldn't be upset by that. She opened the box to the snack that John got her and bit into it with a small smile, she rather enjoyed strawberry shortcake.

That was how she spent most of her childhood, until she was eight. She would go to school, play tennis, fence, and then go home and do her homework. John and Antionette slowly relaxed into the roles of being parents and happily showed up to any games of tournaments she had. Everything had changed when she turned eight.

"_I found you_," She muttered in French as she looked a newspaper.

Her Mum had been having problems finding a killer. One who was leaving a trail of bodies with such strange deaths. Cyanide poisoning. It certainly was an interesting way to kill people, but the way that they ingested the poison, through small tablets that were clearly based off the _Sherlock Holmes _books, was what brought her to the attention of the Death note. This was the Syndicate she had been waiting for. This was a sign to Antionette, and her by association.

She had finally found them after looking for them for so long. It felt good to have some validation that they even existed since if they hadn't it would've thrown all her theories out the window. She placed the newspaper down on her desk and let out a slow exhale of breath that was followed by a grin. She looked towards an impressive stack of occult books and scientific texts before heading towards the window to look out the street.

People were walking past the flat and she leaned against the windowsill as she read the names and lifespans. There was a child within the crowd that had a long lifespan. She smiled slightly at that; a child was unable to use the death note. She never had to worry about one falling into the hands of one. _The god of death must not hand the Death Note directly to a child under 6 years of age based on the human calendar, and the Death Note must not be handed to a child under 6 years of age, but Death Notes that have been dropped into the human world, and are part of the human world, can be used upon humans of any age with the same effect. _She thought about those rules and winced slightly.

A notebook would never last long in a child's hands. Her wince increased as she thought back to how it could be used by one. Their parents would be gone on accident. It was rare that a child had psychopathic tendencies at such an early age, but there were some.

She heard the door to the apartment open and she moved away from the window. She opened her door just a smidge and looked through the small crack. Her father was grabbing a bite to eat before heading back to work. She closed her door again and decided to sit down and read. She had some time before she went to the park and used the tennis court.

She needed to get ready for the Junior championship, the girls division. It was held at the same time as the boy's division and she had a feeling she was going to need all the practice she could get. She had improved the way she played, but she still needed to improve even more. She didn't want a repeat of last year. Her fingers brushed against her palm where a small scar stood out from her skin.

Her mother had gone off on a couple of girls when she had been pushed onto a piece of equipment. She had simply sat back and watched it happen, she knew better than to get in between her mother when she got angry. She would be the first to admit that the older woman was scary. She got a deep cut on her hand and an ice cream sundae on the same day. Overall, it was a rather good day.

She moved away from her window and went to change into a red tennis skirt and a white polo. She grabbed a small bag that held her tennis gear in it before heading out of her room. John gave her a tired wave as she grabbed a blue water bottle from the fridge. She placed it in her bag before heading out.

The landlady gave her a happy smile and waved as she passed by the woman's flat. That woman had taken to treating her like she was her grandchild. Her name was Julia Denver, and she was an interesting character. The woman put her own husband behind bars after he robbed a bank. She could only dream of being that much of a badass when she was old.

Sky shook her head and headed towards the park. There was a free court and she sighed in relief that it was the one that she frequented. It was the only one against a brick wall. She placed her bag down on the ground and opened it to retrieve her gear. A black racquet, a rather dirty tennis ball, and a hair tie. She tied her shoulder length hair up, so it wasn't resting on her neck, and grabbed the racquet and ball.

She bounced the ball once before tossing it in the air for a serve. With a quick snap of her wrist she sent the ball flying from the force behind her swing. She chased after the ball as it bounced against the bricks and came careening towards her. It gave her even more time to think as she ran across the court.

She needed to focus on _her_ case. The person giving the cyanide pills to people was someone inconspicuous. It had to be someone no one suspects, like the butler or maid. She let out a grunt as she hit the ball with more ferocity then she meant to.

She needed to see one of the bodies or at least have an idea of the condition of which they were found in. It would help her make heads or tails of who was performing the killings. She narrowed her eyes at that thought and hit the ball again. She had to tag along with her mother to one of the bodies. She knew the older woman would allow her to come with, they both had that insatiable curiosity.

She wondered if that was why her mind kept returning to L. No one really knew what he had looked like. There was speculation that he had been an old man, or that he had been handsome. She doubted that he was a James Bond type. It didn't seem to fit the way he was recorded acting. He was too…quirky to be a Bond type.

She lost her train of thought when she missed the ball. Sweat was going down her face as she panted. She went after the ball and easily knelt to pick it up. That allowed her to notice that she had a guest on the court. She studied them for a few seconds from under her bangs. White long-sleeved shirt, baggy blue jeans, worn out red sneakers, pale skin, and unruly black hair. She paused at the name above the head.

He wouldn't have used his real name, would he?

"Can I help you?" She asked the dark-haired boy who was watching her with large dark eyes that looked like he'd spent his whole life inside of a dark room.

"You miss-calculated the trajectory of the ball," The boy said in a monotone, he had no discernible accent.

"Yeah, I did," She admitted, "There's always something."

"You play in tournaments, yet you've never won one," He pointed out.

"I'll change that this year," She shrugged, "I don't mind losing in tennis."

He was silent after that and she bounced the ball as she studied him. L, L Lawliet. He couldn't be L, could he? As he pressed a finger against his lips, she almost let her surprise show on her face. It was him! What was he doing away from his guardian, or rather what was he doing in a London park talking to her about tennis?

"So, what's your name stranger?" She asked.

"Rue Ryuzaki," He answered as he narrowed his eyes at her, "You are Skyler Holmes, yes?"

"Ajax-Holmes," She corrected with a small smile, "There's always something."

It was something her family said. You could get the right outcome deducing things, but there will always be one thing you'll miss. L, or rather, Ryuzaki gave her a blank expression at that. She stopped bouncing the ball and noted that he looked out of place on the tennis court.

"Want to play a round of tennis?" She asked without thinking, "I've got a spare racquet."

"If you don't mind," Ryuzaki confirmed.

She gave him a small smile before retrieving the spare racquet and handed it to him. It was a blue one that came in a pack with her black one. She tossed the tennis ball to him when she believed he was ready. She was going to give him the first move. He bounced the ball once before serving it over the net.

That started their game of tennis, and wits. He was stronger than he looked, but she was faster due to her smaller size. She noted that his body may have been busy, but his mind was focusing on something other than the game. He was trying to figure her out just as she was trying to figure him out.

It was a confusing game. Her gaze flickered to the two men who had ended up on the court with them. A chair umpire and a line umpire. She faltered slightly and a ball flew past her racquet. The point went to L and she turned to look at him as he got fifteen points.

He was breathing heavily as well. They were both sweaty. She brushed her hands off on her shirt and picked up the ball. She tossed it up and served it over the net. L went after it with ease.

It brought back their game of wits. She found herself enjoying this. He was an exceptional tennis player, and it was funny to do something he hadn't completely calculated yet and watch him sprint after the ball. He was young enough that he still needed some work on his deducting speed. She scored a point and he raised a thin eyebrow at her.

She smiled at him as the umpire gave her a point. He was still winning, but she was catching up. He gained a challenging glint to his dark eyes and she narrowed her own as he served the ball. He was going for the win. She ran after the ball and let out slight curse when she missed the dirty ball and she slowed down. She stepped on her foot incorrectly and her ankle rolled in an awkward manner. She was sent tumbling to the ground.

"Winner, Rue Ryuzaki," The chair umpire called.

A scattering of applause went through the area and she searched the crowd. An uneasy feeling began to build up in her at all the names and life spans. There were too many of them for such a small space. She ignored her unease and got up to her feet with a slight wince.

She brushed herself off and walked up to L, a slight limp in her steps. He had the racquet in his hand and was giving her a cautious look. He didn't trust her one bit, and oddly enough it stung. She stopped and held out a hand.

"Good game," She genuinely congratulated.

"Yes…" He trailed off and slowly accepted her hand, giving it a small shake before dropping it as if it was on fire.

She didn't even react to it as she checked the time. She knew that she had to be home soon. She walked over to her bag and picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. She pulled her hair out of the ponytail she had it in and pulled the hair tie around her wrist.

"Hey," She got his attention as she picked up the tennis ball, "See you around."

He was still holding onto the racquet and stared at her as she rushed off. He pressed his thumb against his mouth and began to bite down on the nail. He couldn't help but be intrigued, few people could keep up with him when he played tennis. He looked down at the racquet still in his hand and judged the weight of it. It was a standard racquet, but it was in excellent condition even with the amount of strain she put them through.

He had watched her as she ran back and forth and hit the ball. She didn't have her mind in the game and was just allowing her body to go through the motions. He had instead watched her eyes. Her red eyes had narrowed in deep thought as she contemplated something. It was something that he did when he played.

He headed towards an old black car and got into it. The man who was sitting inside the car looked at him with a small smile on his wrinkled face. He was an older man; his dark hair had gone completely white and his face was heavily lined. The racquet was placed on the seat next to him as he took off the shoes and brought his legs up to his chest.

"Did you find someone to play against?" The mas asked.

"Yes, Wammy-san," L replied, "She was interesting."

Wammy paused as he reached for the keys to start the car. He smiled at his ward and started the car. They moved out of London and headed towards a house that was out of the way in a small town outside the city. He was proud that his ward was starting to open up to him. He slowed down when rain started to pitter patter against the windshield as he drove.

It was different as to what Skyler was doing. It had started to rain on her way home, and she glared up at the sky. Of course, it had started raining, that was just her luck. She watched as people walked past her with their umbrellas. It had been a mistake to not bring an umbrella with her, English weather could be highly unpredictable, and she knew that for a fact.

She let out a low sigh when a cab slowed down. Her eyes narrowed slightly as the passenger window rolled down and the driver stuck his head out. She quietly catalogued information about him in her mind. Old, white male, possibly six feet tall, his breathing was off a bit, so he most likely had cancer of the lungs or at least a health issue in that area, and his eyes were a dark blue and bloodshot. A scent wafted in the air and she narrowed her eyes even more, he was a heavy smoker like most of the people of his generation. That was what had given him his breathing problems.

"You Skyler Holmes?" He questioned.

"Who wants to know?" She asked.

A gun came out into play and she gave him a blank expression.

"Get into the cab," He threatened.

She let out a soft sigh due to the cliché and got into the cab. Her hair was plastered to her face due to the small amount of time she spent in the rain. The cab started and she crossed her arms across her chest. She was having trouble breathing through the smoke that filled the cab and she grimaced at every breath she had to take. She slowly looked out the window as they came to a stop and found a camera, she gave a nod at it.

There, that was a motion towards uncle government. He was always watching over them with the video cameras that were slowly popping up in areas they often frequented. She turned her attention back towards the driver and tried to figure out what kind of syndicate would hire a dying Cabbie. This was something she really needed to figure out.

The Boss of this syndicate was a fan of _Sherlock Holmes, _the books, and the show. The show was a bit problematic since it wouldn't come out until the late two thousands to two thousand and ten. That meant that the person in charge of the syndicate was just like her, just playing on a different side. She needed to get them into custody before Kira had a chance to rise to power. That was what was going to be difficult.

The cab came to a stop and the cabbie got out. He opened her door and pointed his gun at her. She kept her cool and simply held her hands up in defense as she looked at the building. He brought her to a library. She couldn't help the sigh that came from her mouth as they move inside.

"I was wondering why you kidnapped me," She said, "It makes sense that they couldn't catch you, no body suspects the cabbie."

"Right, you are Antionette's daughter," He commented as they entered the main area of the library, "Makes sense that you'd be intelligent."

She was forced to sit down, and he sat across from her. He brought out two bottles and placed them in front of her. They housed identical cyanide pills and she simply raised a brow at them. She wasn't foolish enough to even test this. She didn't have a taste for adrenaline like her mother, she didn't need the rush. She brought a hand up to her hair and began to tug on a piece of hair.

"You have a chance for freedom and a chance of death," The Cabbie told her, "Choose your poison."

"It would be irrelevant to even choose, I don't have an antidote shoved up my sleeve like you do," She pointed out and she tilted her head to reveal one of her eyes, "And besides that's not even a real gun, the scuffing around the barrel of the gun points to plastic then metal."

He gave her a look before squeezing the trigger of the gun. Water shot out of it and she simply sighed before standing up from her chair. She wasn't scared of this man; he was someone that had nothing to lose. He had worked for a syndicate that didn't care if he got caught or not.

"You don't have a taste for adrenaline, do you?" He asked her.

"Ever been blown up by a bomb?" She asked, "You stop wanting adrenaline after that."

He didn't get to ask what she meant by that when the doors slammed open and men in black uniforms rushed in. She looked around at them and slowly brought her arms behind her back and sent the man a sweet smile. She knew how to play a part and knew how to play it well. She was going to mess with him.

"By order of the crown, you are under arrest for the murder of her majesties people," She informed him as he was handcuffed.

"Miss Holmes, your uncle is waiting for you in a car," A man told her as he walked up to her.

"Thank you, Mr. Jenkins," She smiled at him.

He paused and backed up from her. There had been a small rumor circulating that the youngest Holmes could know someone's name just by seeing their face. His brown eyes were wide as he watched the red headed child walk out of the library and towards a black Bentley. She climbed into the back seat and sent him a small wink before closing the door behind her. The windows were heavily tinted so he couldn't see her anymore. He slowly let out a low sigh, he had been somewhat scared by that.

"Hello, Uncle," Skyler greeted as she sat down on the expensive leather interior of the car.

"Skyler, you were smart enough to send a message through the cameras," He commented as he took a sip from the steaming cup in his hands, "Then again, that nod could've meant anything."

"Yet, you were able to figure out what it meant," She commented as she placed her bag on the floor of the car, "Well done."

Neither liked being talked down to as if they were children. Even if she was a physical child, she didn't appreciate it much. Her uncle let out a sniff of annoyance at that and she closed her eyes in slight victory. She had taken up her mother's habit of making him mad, she couldn't help it, he had entertaining expressions.

"You played tennis against a very interesting boy," He commented and she opened her eyes and spared him a sideways glance, "I commend you on being able to keep up with him, but I know you can do better."

"Tennis is just something I play to relieve stress," She stated as she shut down his words, "Fencing is where I truly shine, so, please talk about topics you only have knowledge of Uncle."

He stared at her for a few seconds and he heard the driver let out a low whistle. He had made his niece angry with his words and he felt uneasy as her red eyes met his. She had one of those intense stares that was hard to ignore. He let out a low cough and looked away from her.

"My apologies," He muttered.

She gave a low nod at that and turned her attention out the window. She brought her hands into her lap so she wouldn't curl her hair. She gave up within an hour and started to curl a piece around her finger as she crossed her legs. She started to figure out what had happened in the span of a day.

The only word her mind could supply was trouble. She let out a sigh at that and got out of the car when it stopped outside of her home. She just wondered what else could change within a few days. She didn't even want to think about that. She knew such things could bring even more trouble.

She couldn't help but think back to the death note, and the syndicate boss that played to _Sherlock Holmes_. That was more trouble than she wanted to deal with.


	4. Chapter 4

四

* * *

She knew that she shouldn't have thought those words. She was sitting in class waiting for it to end. She had to go to the tennis tournament for the Junior Division. The boy's and girl's division were happening on the same day. She wondered if she was going to see L again.

She felt her neck grown warm and a frown wormed its way onto her face as she thought about her defeat at his hands in tennis. She would win against him one day; she was determined about that. She heard the girls around her whispering amongst themselves and she felt her eyebrow twitch in slight annoyance. She hadn't missed being a child in elementary school.

Children were cruel with what they could say. She heard many comments about her hair and eyes. She looked out the window of the classroom and watched the treetops move with the slight breeze. It appears the weather had cleared up. That meant that the tennis courts would be clean and dry to play on.

The bell rang and the class was dismissed by the female teacher at the front of the classroom. The tennis team found each other and slowly headed towards the busses so they could make it to the tournament. Sky sat in the back of the bus and the other girls gave her a wide berth. Her mother was right, the girls at this school were going to be cruel.

She turned her attention to her bag and looked at the black racquet she had brought with her. She had left her blue one with L, without even thinking about it. She had been starstruck at meeting him and she knew that. She felt her neck burn again and she let out a huff as she began to twirl her hair around her finger.

She dug in her bag with her freehand and found a book. It was H.P. Lovecraft, she was halfway through the _Call of Cthulhu_. He had some…interesting language for a man in the early nineteen hundreds. He had used words that not many had used past the eighteen hundreds.

She shook herself from her thoughts and opened the book to her spot and began to read. Her eyes were glued to the pages as she ignored the girls around her. She knew that the coach was taking note of her antisocial behavior. That woman was going to twist her actions into something that would make it seem like she was a budding psychopath.

Sky had a feeling that she was going to have to start acting normally around people. She was going to have to put up an act until people around her were older and more used to mature people. She let out a sound of annoyance at that thought and turned the page of her book. She wasn't going to do that; it would be far too annoying and time consuming.

If they wanted to slander her name, then she would take them to court. Then again it wouldn't really be slander, but misinformation that would be added to her school records. She wasn't about to let them ruin her life by putting such things down. She just wanted to be left alone so she could find the Death Note and enjoy what time she had before Kira became a thing.

The bus came to a stop and she closed her book with an audible snap. It was time for the tournament. The team got off the bus and went into the right area to change into their uniform. The uniforms were black and blue, blue polo's and black skirts, and were standard.

Her eyes began to move side to side as she searched for L. He could be starting any year in the Junior Championship, but she wanted to be sure that he wasn't around. She paused as all the names began to give her a headache. She started looking again and stopped when she saw his name amid a large crowd of children.

She had forgotten that Wammy's was also a school. It was an orphanage first, but they got an education while living there. He stood amongst those children and was dressed in a white polo shirt and a pair of jeans. She was surprised that he was able to get away with such clothing.

She caught his eye and sent him a small smile. One of the girls on her team noticed her smile and elbowed the girl next to her. She lost her smile and turned her attention to the girls standing next to her as they laughed. She rolled her eyes and went back to looking at the crowds.

"Is that your boyfriend?" One of the girls asked.

"I am literally eight," She pointed out, "A bit too young to think about such things, don't you think?"

"I'd be ashamed to admit it too, he's kind of shabby looking," One of the girls stated.

She simply rolled her eyes and didn't even give them a response. She didn't have to seeing as the coach heard them and began to berate them for being rude. She let a slight smile appear on her face as she heard them get detention. She never believed in Karma before, but she liked seeing it when it happened. It was nice to see something that wasn't always scientifically explained.

A loud whistle went through the area and she looked towards the host of the tournament. He was a rather handsome young man with slicked back black hair, dark skin, and bright brown eyes. He grinned at them and cleared his throat. She found that she couldn't wait to hear what he had to say, he seemed like he would be amusing.

"Welcome to the annual Junior Division!" he announced, "This year we will start to have the boys and girls play on the same day!"

Applause echoed through the area and Sky went back to searching the crowd for someone that she knew. She found her Father's name next to her Uncle's and the Inspectors. Her Father caught her eye and gave her a grin and she felt a genuine smile appear on her face. He was one of the few people that could coax that out of her.

"You should smile more often," A male voice croaked, and she paused.

All the sounds around her muted as she looked around for the source of the voice. Her eyes widened behind her bangs. Above them was a bird like creature with a skull for a face and glowing red eyes. It was looking at her.

"Ohhh, you must be the one that death sent!" The creature stated and her eyes narrowed.

So, this was a Shinigami? It was hideous, no wonder they didn't want to stay in their realm. She wouldn't want to be stuck around them for a long period of time either. She felt her lips twitch down in a frown.

"You and a few others are here," He continued, "Stuck as tiny children for the time being."

"Qu'est-ce que tu veux?" She asked.

"French, huh?" He murmured in response, "A Shinigami never takes sides, but at this juncture if Death is sending people after us then perhaps it's time to take a side."

"Approfondissez vos explications, s'il vous plaît," She murmured.

"The Shinigami King is our Boss, but the big boss is Death," The Shinigami replied upon her request to explain further, "Most of us don't listen to the big boss, but some still have a respect for him."

"Êtes-vous un d'entre eux?" She quietly questioned.

"I am," He nodded as he landed next to her, "I dropped my notebook to get your attention, I didn't plan on this syndicate guy picking it up, he seems to know ya."

She narrowed her eyes as she began to think about who it could be. She looked towards the Shinigami. He was being truthful with her. As odd as it was, he was telling the complete truth. She was just hoping he wouldn't backstab her. One couldn't really trust a Shinigami; they were usually manipulative for their own gain.

"He's one of those people who made a deal with the king," He continued, "Good thing you've got immunity to the Notebook, now you have to figure out how to help your mate."

"My what?" She blinked in confusion.

"Look at your finger you idiot," He dryly commented.

She did and she truly focused on it. A red string was flying from one of her fingers and she slowly followed it to see where it led. It went right to…she let out a grimace. Of course, it went to him. Poor guy couldn't catch a break, could he?

"Please tell me you are joking." She stated.

The cackling she got was the only answer she needed. She let out a very quiet groan and looked towards the announcer who was announcing the line up. She would be going second after a pair of boys went. She winced slightly.

He couldn't catch a break. More like she couldn't catch one. Who in their right mind would tie her soul to the world's greatest detective? She gained a blank expression. Death, Death would. He had to have had a reason to do so, right? It just didn't make sense!

"You make such hilarious faces," The Shinigami stated, and she looked above his head.

"Thank you, Ryuga," She dryly commented.

He cackled at that and she moved out with her school's tennis team. She had her racquet in hand and bumped it against her shin as she thought. Ryuga had decided that they were now best friends and to stick with her. A part of her was annoyed at how difficult he was to read. She turned her attention towards the game to mull over what she had just learned.

Ryuga couldn't help but watch the small human who had taken a deal with Death. He was being genuine with the human with what he said. He looked towards her red string and watched as the boy who it was attached to looked towards her with an owlish expression. He quietly snickered at how mismatched they were, and he knew that Death had done this to be funny.

He crossed his arms across his chest and watched the game of tennis. He was annoyed at the fact that his notebook had been picked up by such a vile human. He had a feeling that the female would've burned it upon finding it, after making taking pictures that proved it was an actual thing, and he wondered if he dodged a bullet. He looked down at the red head and nodded to himself. He was going to have to stick around and give her nudges in the right direction.

"Your mate keeps looking this way," He pointed out.

He heard her sigh and started cackling. He was annoying her, but he didn't care. It wasn't like she was aware of what she could do to him. She leaned forward and had posture came into play as she watched the match in progress. He let out another cackle as the dark-haired boy sat next to her with equally bad posture.

"Hello, Rue," She greeted with a small smile, "Nice to see you again."

"Do you always talk to yourself?" L simply questioned.

"No," She answered, "I was just thinking some things through."

Ryuga began to float upside down and she barely kept in her sigh of annoyance. He was purposely bothering her, and she wasn't going to fall for it. She knew better than to give him any kind of attention. She didn't want to be labeled as crazy.

"You were speaking French," L pointed out, "Fluently."

"It's a romantic language, it was fun to learn," She shrugged, feeling slightly judged by how she phrased it.

"Romantic…" He trailed off.

She spared him a look of disbelief as he brought a finger to his mouth and began to think. She heard her name called to play and she stood up. She barely gave him a second thought as she pulled her hair up and headed to the court. She needed to focus; her uncle would have words to say if she lost during the first round.

L, or rather Rue Ryuzaki as he liked to be called, watched as the redhead's classmates shot her nasty looks. She didn't seem to care as she bounced the ball once and then threw it into the air. Her serve was harder than he remembered her using against him. She wasn't playing for fun anymore and he narrowed his eyes as she easily moved across the court to hit the ball.

"She's so weird," A girl from her school stated.

"Yeah, does she even have any friends?" Another asked in a snide tone.

"I don't think she does," One replied in a soft tone, "She doesn't seem like a bad person."

"Are you kidding? Have you seen her eyes Mia?" The first girl asked, a frown on her pale face.

"I have, they are red," Mia stated in a dry tone, "So what? Does red eyes automatically make you evil?"

"She also wears such dark colors out of uniform," The second one stated.

"Not everyone likes pastel pink," Mia commented.

"Skyler has a very genuine smile," L muttered getting their attention.

"How would you know?" The first girl asked him, and he sent them a blank look.

"She smiled at him; how else would he know?" Mia asked.

L watched as Skyler walked up to them and noted the sweat that was trailing down her face from her match. She had won. She was breathing heavily but seemed to have accomplished something. She put her racquet against her leg and gave him a small smile before looking towards the girls from her school with a blank expression.

"Congratulations," He said, he remembered the manners that he had been taught at Wammy's.

"Thank you," She said with a slight tilt of her head, a small smile playing on her face.

Ryuga was cackling above them and she mentally sighed. She was hoping to whatever deity would listen to her that he wouldn't follow her home. He would make it hard for her to sleep and she didn't need insomnia from the Shinigami. She didn't want him being around her family and possibly bringing despair upon them.

"I see that you won't be playing for a while," She commented as she looked up at the match board, "You nervous?"

"No, I'm quite confident in my skills," He stated without missing a beat.

"Ha-ha, I wish I could have that confidence in my skills," She chuckled with a small smile.

She was surprised by how easy he was to talk to. He gave her an owlish expression and she felt her neck burn slightly. She was used to making people nervous under her own intense gaze, but he had a whole lever on her. His eyes were so dark that they seemed endless. She couldn't help but wonder if this was one of those rare times that he went outside and got some sunlight.

"You play very well," He muttered.

She wondered how hard it was for him to compliment her. She looked at him and gave a slight nod at that. She looked around the crowd again and noticed that her father looked ready to strangle her uncle. The man must be being rude if her father was angry at him. It was rare that her father got angry to the extent that he might do bodily harm to someone.

"What was it like being kidnapped?" L asked her and she blinked in surprise.

"It was interesting," She shrugged, "I wasn't as scared as I could be."

He sent her a look and she knew that he wanted her to elaborate. He was interested in the case and what had happened. He had a curious mind that was always looking for answers. She looked towards the match board when the match after her's ended. She had four more matches until L had to go and play.

"He held up a water gun that had been made to look realistic and told me to get into a cab," She shrugged, "He then took me to a library and tried to talk me into swallowing a cyanide pill."

"There's something else," L pointed out as he watched her body language, she was good at hiding it, but he was far too observant for her current skills.

"He seemed surprised that I don't look for adrenaline like my mum," She admitted, "I've never been one for adrenaline…it causes my temperature to rise far too much for comfort."

He didn't have any more questions about the case since he had read what had happened afterwards. He watched as her eyes moved to the side and she looked at someone in the crowd with slight worry. He followed her line of sight and watched as a blonde man looked ready to punch a rather posh looking brunette male in the face. A short man with grey hair and lines on his face was snickering at the sight.

"Marty you were supposed to make sure dad didn't punch uncle in the face," He heard Sky mutter.

She sounded amused and disappointed. It was quite the interesting combination. He looked towards the racquet in his hand and gently tapped it against his thigh. He really wanted to play against his opponent and beat them.

He hated to lose.

"You must really want to play tennis," He heard Sky comment and he looked towards her, "Then again it does feel nice to win."

He didn't have a response to that, but he knew it wasn't a jab at him. She didn't seem to be the kind of person who got upset over losing. She looked towards the match that was playing out and raised a brow. He looked towards it as well and watched as one of the girls from her school tripped over her own feet. Sky sent the Shinigami a slight glare as he hovered above the fallen girl.

"Sorry, I don't like it when people are rude," He lamely stated, she gave him a look, "She was annoying and had it coming."

She simply closed her eyes at that. L looked back from the match and watched as she pinched the bridge of her nose and simply let out a soft breath. He wasn't used to people and wondered if that was a normal reaction to a teammate falling. He would have to ask Wammy after the tournament.

They watched the matches in silence after that. Both were sizing up their opponents and learning how they played. He had a finger pressed up against his lips and was chewing on the nail as she curled a strand a hair around her finger. It was starting to scare the people around them.

L went to play his match and Sky took that time to move around the crowd of kids that were waiting to play or just waiting for the second round of matches to begin. She was looking around for her father since some of the parents were talking to their children. She found him seething at her Uncle next to a small stand that was selling drinks. She picked up her speed and gave her father a giant hug. His body tensed before he turned around and gave her a hug back.

"You did great," He informed her.

"Are you drinking Marty?" She asked the investigator who was currently taking a sip out of a silver flask.

"Yeah, have you seen the number of screaming children in this area?" He asked her.

She was about to question what he meant when a loud screech went through the area. She looked towards a small five-year-old who was had his head back and was just screaming. She couldn't help but feel that on a spiritual level. Sometimes she too wanted to let out a screech at the world. She slowly gained a blank expression on her face and slowly reached for the flask to take a swig.

"Not so fast kiddo, you are far too young for this," Marty stated, "You'd also get in trouble with the officials."

She let out a low sound that sounded like she was mocking him. He gently bopped a fist down on the top of her head and she swiftly kicked his shin. He couldn't help but mess with the kid who used to freak him out. She had wonderful reactions to some of the things he said.

"I shouldn't be feeling that screeching on a spiritual level, but I do," She muttered as she let out a low chuckle.

"Sooooooo, who's the boy you were talking to?" He asked in a falsetto.

She slowly blinked at him before her cheeks turned a slight pink. He grinned at her and began to wiggle his eyebrows up and down and the pink slowly turned into a deep red. She hid her face in her hands and her father gave Marty a glare. He didn't even want to think of his daughter liking someone, she was far too young.

"I'm the Godfather, I have to mess with her," Marty commented with a grin, "It's my sacred duty."

"She's too young to think about a boyfriend," John darkly muttered.

"Some of the children she goes to school with already have fiancés," Her Uncle commented.

"What time period do we live in?" She asked with a disgusted expression on her face, "That's taking away their future, that isn't fair."

"Life isn't fair," Her Uncle replied.

"Yeah, especially when a decision is made for you without your input, you could ask some of those girls if they wanted a career and most of them would say yes," She hissed, her red eyes flashing in anger.

"Calm down, Skyler," Her father gently warned, "He lives in a completely different world which is surprising with how kind your grandparents are."

He had muttered that last part as he thought about his mother and father -in-law. They were the kindest people who had wanted nothing but the best for their children. He knew for a fact that they were the ones who supplied his daughter with her array of books. He placed a hand on her shoulder and watched as her expression deepened as she glared at her uncle.

"Skyler," A soft monotone got his attention and he watched as she looked back and gave a tired smile.

It was the dark-haired boy who she had been talking to before his match. He was slightly sweaty and breathing heavily but seemed proud of himself. His daughter turned away from her uncle and gave the boy a genuine grin. The boy gained a slightly uneasy smile to his face and it was obvious that the boy didn't smile that often. He narrowed his eyes at the boys' bad posture that brought him to eye level with his daughter.

"Congrats on the win, Rue," She grinned at him.

L gave a nod at that before turning to her family. She had been glaring at the tall man who seemed miffed about something. He wondered what kind of argument they could've had while he was in his match. The blonde man looked at him and gave him a nice smile.

"Nice to meet you kid, names Marty Lacey," He introduced himself, "That prat over there is Martin Holmes."

"I can introduce myself," The man hissed.

"I like taking the wind out of your sails," Marty commented.

"That's payback from when he had you infiltrate a Yakuza group," Sky commented in slight amusement, "You do deserve it, Uncle."

"Stay out of this," Martin said before glaring at the investigator.

"Your family is…interesting," L commented.

"Its hectic," She added, "But it is my family, even if I sometimes want to kick my uncle."

"Not punch?" He asked.

"No, a swift kick to the groin works much easier than a punch to the face," She smiled in a deceptively sweet manner.

"Don't corrupt him," Her father warned in amusement, "I swear your half as bad as your mum, I'm her father John Holmes."

"I'm Rue Ryuzaki, it's nice to meet you," L said in a monotone.

"Are you from Japan?" Her father asked with surprise on his face.

He got a shrug in response and Sky didn't add onto that. She knew the importance of keeping such information a secret. Her father still had no clue where she had come from. She spoke French and had an American accent, just not one he could place. She would never tell them where she had come from since she knew that the family, she had originally grown up with didn't exist. Her long line was gone.

Death had rewritten everything to give her anonymity. She wasn't upset by that, just surprised. It was the first time that help given to her had been helpful. She spared a glance towards Ryuga and noticed that he was floating around the crowd while cackling. He seemed to enjoy messing with people that couldn't see him, but it wasn't overly violent or mean spirited. She knew he had tripped one of the girls that liked to insult her when she wasn't around.

"You plan on going for the win, don't you," She commented as she looked at the match board and noticed she was going next after the current match ended.

"Of course," L smirked.

She couldn't help but smile at that. She was going to beat him one day. Maybe she could get him to fence against her. She heard her name called and shook her head slightly as she headed towards the court. Her father and Marty gave her encouraging calls and she heard Ryuga get in on that.

That was how the tournament went. They would play their match and then met up afterwards. L knew that Wammy was keeping an eye on him as he stayed around the slightly shorter girl and her family. He needed to know what made her tick, what it was about her that put him on edge. He watched as she would look above people's heads for a few seconds before gaining an amused expression on her face or a confused one.

They even invited him to tea, and he accepted it as soon as he saw the cake. Her Father and Godfather were very nice people from what he could gather. He noticed that her Uncle was cold and was trying to mold Sky into someone she wasn't. From the stories about her mother, she was interested in being a detective as well. He found that career to be interesting, but he knew that Wammy wouldn't allow him to follow such a career path just yet.

When they finished their tea break the tournament began once again. They played their hardest and he was given a medal as he won the boy's division. He watched as she accepted the medal for the girl's division. Her hair was plastered to her face and she was breathing heavily, but the smile on her face was victorious.

"See you around, Rue!" She called as they went their separate ways.

She was dressed in her school uniform and he made a mental note of the school. He was stating to think that blue suited her, even if it slightly clashed with her hair. She still had her hair up and it allowed him to see her eyes, he had been wondering if her teammates were kidding when they said they were red. They were slightly slanted in a serious expression that completely changed how her face looked when he noticed them.

"You as well, Skyler." He nodded.

They went their separate ways after that.


	5. Chapter 5

五

* * *

Sky sighed through her nose as she parried her fencing sword. She was practicing her footwork. As she moved several things became apparent. She had grown taller and it was throwing her balance off.

"Sky, you aren't done yet?" A female voice rang out.

"Give me a few more seconds," She called back, her voice a soft monotone that carried a Londoner accent.

She finished her practice and removed her helmet. Long red hair came tumbling out and rested against her back in flips. Her bangs had remained the same and covered her red eyes. She had grown older since her first tennis tournament. Four years had passed, and she had yet to win against L. She felt a small smile form on her face as she thought about the dark-haired boy.

"Your thinking about him again," Her friend pointed out.

"Who?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head.

"Never mind," Her friend sighed before looking towards the large windows that made up the gym, "Have you finally caught your syndicate?"

"I've narrowed them down, if I disappear off the radar for a while, don't worry about me," Sky informed her friend.

"But the tournament is tomorrow," Her friend commented, "He's going to miss you if you vanish."

Her friend gained a worried expression and pushed her straight brown hair away from her face. She had almond shaped blue eyes, the color the curtesy of colored contacts, and a kind disposition. She wasn't as lean and athletic as Sky, but she was taller. It helped that she was three years older than the physical twelve-year-old.

"You coming to my sixteenth birthday party?" She asked changing the topic as she saw the expression in the Sky's red eyes.

"That's the plan, Mary," Sky nodded.

Mary grinned at that and gave her friend a hug before heading outside and running towards the Limousine that was waiting for her. Sky stood still for a few seconds before giving a genuine smile and putting her helmet back on. She wanted to practice her forms, she felt like she would get rusty if she didn't. She picked up her sword and went back into position.

She practiced for an hour and removed her helmet. Hair was sticking to her face as she let out a sigh. She didn't want to go home; her uncle was waiting to talk to her. He had been trying to get her to stop playing tennis and start music lessons. He wanted her to play Piano.

"Hiding won't stop the inevitable," Ryuga informed her as he floated a few inches off the ground, "I guess you'd just miss your mate."

She sent him a look at that. He could be half as bad as her uncle if he truly put forth the effort. He was always cracking jokes about her, and L and she was starting to wonder why. She wondered if he was bored. It would make sense as to why he stuck around her. It wasn't just because he was one of the few Shinigami that still followed the rules that Death had set down after the Medieval Plague.

"Whatever," She muttered.

He cackled as she headed into the locker room to change into her school uniform. She could still hear him as she slipped out of the white fencing uniform. Her tank top was sticking to her skin due to how much she had started to sweat. She let out a sound of annoyance as she pulled on the white material.

She quickly changed into her uniform and was buttoning up the blazer as she walked out of the locker room. Ryuga was silent and was looking out the window with a serious expression, well, as serious as one could muster with a skull for a face. She paused and looked towards the window as well. Her eyes widened behind her bangs and she quickly moved to the side as the glass shattered and rained against the hard wood floor. She slammed into the floor with her left side and grunted in slight pain. It had been an effort not to get hit by most of the glass and one that seemed to have paid off, mostly. She grimaced as she slowly crawled back towards the locker room, a trail of blood following her.

She got the door open and she crawled in. The tile of the room was cold against her skin as she crawled. The trail of blood behind her was slowly growing into a puddle and she looked towards the source. A large piece of glass was stuck in her leg and she let out a low curse. She took off the blazer of her uniform and tied it around her leg to stop the flow of blood, a makeshift tourniquet of sorts. She looked towards her bag and started to dig in it as she moved to one of the showers.

She found a panic button that her Uncle had given her. It had a working GPS in it and as soon as she activated it, it would constantly put out her position. She hid it in her shirt, in the training bra she had to wear, and slowly withdrew her hand. The door slammed open and she struggled to stand up as she heard footsteps rushing towards her. She finally made it to her feet and glared at the men.

They were wearing uniforms that were like what she had wore when she worked with the SWAT teams. The visors of their helmets were pulled down and she couldn't see their faces. She braced herself for whatever was going to happen and glared at the men. One of them moved forward and pressed something against her mouth and nose. She didn't breathe in and swung a fist out towards their face and came up short. Sometimes she hated being a child, she would've made that hit as an adult she wouldn't get her growth spurt until she was fifteen.

He grew impatient and simply sent a punch to her gut and caused her to intake a sharp breath. Everything around her grew hazy and her hearing grew muffled. All she could smell was something sweet invading her nose as everything turned black. It seemed like forever until she was awakened by a harsh strike to the face. She looked around with bleary vision before she settled on the figure in front of her that had a hand raised.

"Ah, Johnson McGivern," She muttered, "No wonder everything had played out like a Sherlock episode."

The man in front of her was pale skinned and balding. His red eyes were glaring at her and she narrowed her own. He harshly grabbed her face and she slowly started to glare. She wasn't amused by what he had been doing, in fact she was royally pissed.

"Your name, I can't see it," He growled, "What have you done?"

"I represent the big boss," She informed him, "Still as inconsequential as usual, I see."

He roughly released her face and slapped her once again. She wasn't afraid of him; she was pissed at him. She was going to make his life a living hell. She did know that she would have to be a little wary about how to proceed since he was volatile, he would probably injure her if she pushed his buttons too much.

"You little bitch," Johnson hissed, "When I saw you, I was hoping that you would be your sister. She would've been so much help in killing that stupid detective."

She kept a blank face at that and wondered how someone so stupid was able to even run a syndicate. He had just given her all the information she needed. She moved her hands in thought and felt the handcuffs that kept her in the chair she was in. She was in a filthy room and she honestly wanted to escape or shoot him. She was very torn on both options.

"Yet, I had to be stuck with the detective sister who is in midget form might I add," He continued, "And one that had already defeated me before."

"This is why I call you inconsequential," She uttered under her breath.

He didn't catch that and continued his tirade. She slowly began to slip her hands from the handcuffs. He hadn't even thought that her hands would be too small for such things, then again, most children wouldn't even attempt to escape when faced with a dilemma. She freed herself and got out of the chair and picked it up. With all her strength, she bashed the chair against his head.

He went down and didn't move. She had a hold of the legs of the chair, that now stood broken and in pieces around her and Johnson and knelt. She grabbed the keys out of his white suit jacket and headed out of the cell door. She locked it and started to run as best as she could with an injured leg. She needed a weapon, or the notebook. She noticed that Ryuga was floating around and she headed towards him.

"It's on the upper floor in his office, take the stairs, they are watching the elevator," He informed her.

"You really dislike him as much as I do," She commented with a slightly amused smile as she did what he said.

He let out a low cackle. She hurried up the stairs and began to wince at each step she took. She could feel the shard of glass cutting into her leg even more. She still moved forward and finally hit the final step that she needed. She slowly opened the door and looked for any sign of cameras or guard. She didn't see anything and went through the door. She headed towards the largest door and opened it. She quickly searched the dark room and her eyes zeroed in on the desk.

She moved towards it and began to open the drawers. She took the 10 mm pistol that was inside one of the drawers and took the ammo. She put the extra ammo in the pocket of her skirt before continuing her search for the notebook. She didn't find it and quickly searched the rest of the room. She let out a gentle 'AH' as she found a safe and put her ear to it as she turned the dial.

"You could've been a crook in a past life," Ryuga commented as the door swung open and a black notebook was revealed to them.

She picked it up and her heart skipped a beat. Her eyes grew wide at the feeling and she looked down at the words scrawled across the cover. This was the real deal; this wasn't a fake notebook. She shoved it into her skirt waist band and started to head out. Her mind started to make a mental map of the area and she knew that the second story would be the way to get out of the building she was in.

She hurried down the stairs and moved through the door. She was lucky that she hadn't been found by any of the guards. She looked at the garage she had found herself in and saw a car that she knew how to drive. She headed towards it and broke the passenger window. She winced at the sound and opened the door.

"These guards are as dumb as Johnson," She muttered as she found the keys in the cupholder.

She started the car and pressed a foot down on the gas pedal. The car shot off and she narrowed her eyes as the guards finally appeared. She headed out of the building she was in and noticed that she was in a forest. It was one that was a few miles away from the city.

That meant that there was a road that would immediately take her to the main road. She drove down a dirt road and followed it until she came across a paved one. She took a sharp left and grew thankful that she hadn't rolled the car onto its side. She continued towards the city and barely paid any attention towards the cars that were following her.

She needed to make it to her uncle's office. She knew that he was going to be watching her progress. This was her case and he only gave her that panic button in case she took too long to get out of her situation. She was thankful for that. It was unneeded due to who it was that had taken her, but it had worked out in the long run.

A bullet whizzed past her car and took out the side mirror. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she sped up even more. She flew past a large building and she barely had time to look at it as she paid attention to her driving. She heard the Shinigami in the car cackling, and she tried to ignore him as he pushed his face against the glass.

"Your mate was outside and seemed so shocked to see a car barreling down the road with more in pursuit," He informed her.

"Must've traumatized him," She muttered as she took another sharp turn that took her further into the city.

"You seem a bit uptight," He commented.

"Yes, well bullets still affect me," She informed him as she winced as one hit the back window.

"Right, being human and all that jazz," He stated in a light tone.

He disappeared from the car just as she turned another corner. She lost a few of the cars that had been following her and she continued her turning of the car. She was taking sharp turns since she knew that the men behind her would have issues doing the same. She continued onwards and found herself on the road that lead to her Uncle's office.

A few men came out of the gate to greet her and they quickly opened the iron gates. They had guns in their hands and started to fire on the cars behind her. She came to a stop outside of the building and finally let out the breath that had been holding. She slowly released her death grip on the steering wheel and got out of the car using the passenger side.

"Miss Holmes, your uncle is waiting for you," A man informed her as she walked into the building.

"Right, Mr. Merriweather do you mind calling a Doctor," She stated, "I've lost quite a bit of blood."

"R-Right away," He stated as he ran off.

He had finally noticed the blood that had been slowly gathering around her as she walked. She lumbered towards the door that led to her uncle's office and kicked it open with her bad leg. Her Uncle jumped and she gave him a tired grin. He seemed unamused by her antics and she slowly walked in. She removed the notebook from her waistband and slammed it on his desk.

"I give you the worlds number one weapon of mass genocide," She stated and Ryuga cackled behind her.

"I doubt that a notebook has that kind of power," Martin stated as he sniffed at the black notebook, "But I will humor you, what do you want me to do with it."

"I want you to touch it," She stated.

"Touch it?" He asked.

"Touch it." She confirmed.

He sighed and he placed a hand on it. He let out a yell at the sight of Ryuga and she let out a cackle at the same time the Shinigami did. He felt as though he was seeing double as he looked at their red eyes. He removed his hand from the notebook and regained his composure.

"What do you need me to do?" He inquired knowing that his Niece was more than she appeared.

"The Human whose name is written in this notebook shall die," She quoted, "We need to document the evidence that it does indeed kill, we should use a criminal that is already scheduled for execution, and once it's proven photo evidence of the book will be taken before it is tossed in a fire and burned."

"You propose murder?" He questioned with a raised brow.

"It goes against every fiber of my being, but yes," She stated with a slow nod, "Once the notebook is a documented weapon then it becomes easier to find a killer if they begin to use one."

"You are creating evidence that could be used in court against a killer," He muttered in thought, "That's diabolical, something your mother would think of."

"When can you have this done? I don't want that notebook out of my sight until it's fucking burning," She informed him with a serious expression.

"Tomorrow," He nodded as he began to punch in a number on his phone, "In the meantime take it with you and go to the hospital."

"Right," She nodded.

She went to walk out of the office when he cleared his throat. She turned to face him with a raised brow. He had an uncomfortable look on his face as he moved some papers around on his desk. It was unlike her Uncle to be that uneasy around her.

"How long have you been able to see the monster?" He asked her.

"Always, this thing would be an excellent weapon in my hands," She truthfully informed him, "I can see the names and lifespans of those around me."

He flinched at those words and wondered if his sister knew. She did, she was aware of what her daughter could do. He made a mental note to have an executioner be there, he wasn't going to sully her hands or his own. He made his calls as she exited his office, the book in her hands.

She was met by Merriweather who quickly picked her up and carried her to the Doctor. Her expression was surprised as the man quickly worked on getting the shard of glass out of her leg. Within the hour her wound had been cleaned and stitched up. She was given a pair of crutches and sent home.

"Skyler Ajax-Holmes!" Her father exclaimed before he pulled her into a hug.

She hugged him back and rested her forehead against his shoulder. He sent off to bed and she didn't even change as she crawled under the covers. She looked at the Shinigami and smiled at him. He was hovering over her desk studying one of her books.

"Wake me up if someone tries to steal the book, please," She quietly requested.

"Sure, squirt." Ryuga nodded.

She closed her eyes and quickly dozed off. He sat on her desk and kept watch. He contemplated what would happen to him when the notebook burst into flames. He was hoping that death would take pity on him and give him a new one that couldn't be used by a human. It would allow him to stay in the human world and keep an eye on his human. He was truly fond of the kid; he had given her that information so it would speed up her escape.

He looked towards the clock and watched as time ticked away. It might've dragged on for a human, but for a Shinigami time had moved far too fast. He was used to sitting around, gambling. This was far better than gambling.

He laughed as he watched his human get up and then fall on her face. She was used to having use of both legs. With a slight grunt she stood up and used her crutch to get ready. She was dressed in a nice white dress shirt and a black skirt. She placed the book in her school bag and headed out of her door.

"Shoes," He reminded her.

"Ah," She muttered, "Thanks, Ryuga."

He snickered as she pulled on some white socks and a pair of black leather dress shoes. She exited her room and hurried out of the flat. Her parents were at work, well her mum was working a murder case, and a car was waiting for her. She recognized the plates as her Uncles car. She paused halfway down the stairs and looked down at her feet. Ryuga pause and looked at his human.

She had nothing but nightmares. All she could dream about was her final moments with her sister. She tightened her hold on her crutch before continuing her way. She wanted to be rid of the damn book so she could get some genuine sleep.

She made a mental note to show up at the tournament and cheer on L. She couldn't play in the state she was in. She exited the apartment complex. The car door was opened by a man in a chauffeur uniform and she gave him a small smile as she climbed into the backseat of the car. He closed the door behind her, and she looked at her uncle.

"Your Criminal is a murderer who had killed ten people," He informed her as he handed her a cup of tea and a small pastry, "He was caught crossing the border into France and given the death penalty, he is scheduled for execution today."

"I see," Sky muttered as she bit into the pastry, "Is there a way I can still make it to the tennis tournament?"

"If you hurry," He nodded, "You'd have to be quick at taking pictures and typing this all onto a file."

She gave him a secretive smile as she finished the pastry off and took a sip of her tea. She was a fast typer and she knew that she would be able to type up a report and information about the notebook within an hour. She finished the tea and placed the empty cup on a tray before looking out the window. She caught sight of her reflection and almost winced at the dark circles that were under her eyes.

"Have you seen death before?" Her Uncle asked her.

Her mind flashed images of the Kira killings. Her entire investigative team had been shown those tapes. She knew what death looked like, and she knew what death by the notebook looked like. She gave a curt nod and refused to even look at him. She brought an arm up and rested her elbow on the car door and placed her cheek in her palm.

She watched as the scenery changed into one of a deep city scape. A headache started to form as names and numbers flew past her at a speed she couldn't keep up with. She passed like ten Mary's; she knew that much. The car came to a stop and they both got out when the chauffeur opened the door.

"We set up a small room for this with the criminal and the executioner," Martin informed her.

She was quiet and gave a small nod of understanding. She felt sick to her stomach that someone was going to have to die to show that the notebook was indeed a weapon. Word alone couldn't be evidence and she knew that. It was what had led to L's downfall. He knew who Kira had been, but he had needed the evidence.

"You are far too kind," Martin stated and she sent him a look, "You are one of those people who abhor the taking of a human life, yet, here you are about to go against one of the morals that make you, you."

"I know," She muttered, "It has to be done, word alone is not evidence."

"Then don't act as though you are the executioner," He commented, "You are just the observer, a judge had already decided his fate in a way that was just."

"Wouldn't this still count as murder?" She asked, "It's the ethics of the notebook that bother me."

"Are you the one writing the name?" He questioned.

"No, but tell that to Charles Manson," She argued, "Manipulation and giving the order is almost the same as pulling the metaphorical trigger."

"I agree, but you truly don't want this," He countered, "You aren't a murderer."

That didn't make her feel better. Somehow that made her feel worse. She sighed as they entered the room that was used specifically for interrogations. A tall man with black hair and blue eyes was sitting in a desk looking at the window that showed a prisoner. He barely looked up, but she could see his manic grin and felt a drop of sweat go down the side of her face.

"How am I doing this?" The executioner asked in a bored tone.

She removed the book from her bag and handed it over with a pen. A couple guards entered the room and steadied their guns on him. He accepted the black notebook with a raised brow and flipped it open. Ryuga was standing in the room, but the man seemed to pay no heed to him. He was quick and precise in writing the prisoners name down before handing it over and standing up.

"Death by notebook, seems fake, but all right," He quipped as he looked towards the prisoner.

Forty seconds had passed and soon the man convulsed and held his chest. The room was shocked into silence as the criminal gasped for air before slamming into the table. The cameras had caught everything, and it was enough evidence that a murder by the notebook would hold up in court. The notebook started to shake as the hands holding it quivered.

"Give that man a proper burial," She stated, "Make sure it's a nice one."

"But he's a murderer," one of the guards stated as he snapped out of his shock at her words.

"No one deserves to die like that," She quietly stated as the criminal was dragged out.

Sky found the camera she was to use and quickly took her pictures. Martin was speechless as she rummaged around his pockets for something. She found his lighter and easily lit a flame. The notebook quickly caught on fire and soon it was burning to ashes upon the tile.

"All pictures will be put to a file," She announced as someone came in and cleaned up the ashes.

"This will be given to you for any of your future cases," Martin informed her as a laptop was presented to her, "It's a newer model so it should hold you over."

"Thank you, Uncle," Sky gave a strained smile, "Now about that tournament."

He sighed at that and they headed out of the room. Ryuga followed behind them but knew that Sky was the only one to see him now. Something hit his head and he caught it before it hit the ground. He let out a cheer at the sight of a new notebook. He read through it and noticed that this one couldn't be used by humans. He had a small note from Death that told him to keep up with what he was doing. Death wanted him to continue watching over the kid, she was doing what he wanted. Death knew that she wouldn't be able to completely stop Kira in the beginning, but he knew that she would be able to stop him before the dark years started.

They got into the car and drove to the tennis courts where the tournament was going to happen. It only took them ten minutes to get there and when they exited the car a few of the girls on the tennis team from her school shot her dirty looks. They eyed her leg and sneered slightly. There goes their win for the fifth year in a row. She walked past them with her head held up high and she continued until she found who she was looking for.

"Oi, Rue," She called.

L looked towards the sound of the voice and for a few seconds his expression brightened. It was only a minute change, but his guardian could see it. Quillish Wammy let a small smile appear on his face at how his ward reacted. It was new to see the boy react positively to another person who wasn't him. He blamed that on the candy that he gave the young boy. He couldn't help it; he was his son in everything but blood.

"Skyler," L greeted with a slight nod of his head, "What happened?"

"Found a syndicate," She shrugged.

"Must you give away classified information?" Martin asked as he appeared behind his Niece.

"I trust Rue," She replied with a serious expression.

"I'm touched," L muttered, and he saw a small smile on her face at his words.

He didn't trust many people, but he could say that he had some trust for her as well. It wasn't the same, but it counted between the two. His dark eyes studied the bruising on her face and the stitches that stood out against her leg. She didn't seem too bothered by it but was smiling happily and acting as if she was all right. A part of him wondered how she did it, another was taking notes.

"Good luck on your match," Sky told him, breaking him out of his thoughts, "I'll be cheering you on."

"Thank you, Skyler," He muttered.

"Call me Sky," She told him, "All my friends do."

Martin began to drag her away before she could say anything else. Wammy watched as his ward blinked at the sight. Sky had a small smile on her face and seemed to have grown a bit happier after speaking to L. L seemed a bit unused to the conversation but appeared very happy by what had happened. He brought a thumb up to his mouth and bit at the nail.

"Friends…huh," L muttered under his breath.

That would make Skyler his first friend. A strange warmth filled him at that thought and he shook it away as he looked towards the court where his opponent was waiting for him. He was starting to think about retiring from Tennis. The one opponent that he continued to play against seemed to be moving away from the sport.

As he played Sky watched with a slight smile on her face. He had grown faster over the years. Even if her leg wasn't injured, she doubted that she could win against him as he was. This was his peek form and she knew better than to play against it.

"You love that boy, don't you?" Martin asked her.

"I don't know what you are insinuating," She replied as she clapped along with the crowd as L won his match.

"You give that boy some of the most genuine smiles that I have seen," He commented, and she knew that he was just as observant as her mother, "I should've lessened my bet with Marty."

"Did you bet how many years?" She questioned.

"He had until you two were eighteen, I had until you two were thirty," He replied.

"I have until you two are seventeen," Ryuga added.

"You lot are betting with my love life?" She asked incredulously.

"We did it with my sister," He replied with a slight smirk, "I won that one."

She sat there with a slight glare on her face and it slowly melded into a fond expression as she looked at L. It took her a few seconds before it turned into one of realization. A curse slipped past her lips and Martin let out a low chuckle as Ryuga loudly cackled. She may have been smart when it came to those around her, but she was oblivious when it came to her own feelings.

"You two will progress faster than the normal lovers," Ryuga informed her, "Being Mates is something that'll speed along the progress."

Lovers? She was _twelve_! She wasn't ready to think about such things! She was supposed to start solving crimes and be an average Sherlock. She wasn't supposed to be thinking about dating, or significant others.

The tennis tournament ended, and she hurried to find L. He was sweaty and breathing heavily. He had a medal in his hand, and he looked at it with a blank expression. He looked up when she walked up to him and he gave her one of his patented uneasy smiles.

"Congrats as usual," She chuckled.

"Will you be in the next tournament?" He asked.

"No, I think I'll just stick to fencing and piano," She admitted with a slight sigh, "I believe my days are going to get busier from here on out."

"I see," He muttered.

"It would be fun to meet up every so often and play a round or two," She stated as she looked towards a slight impatient Martin.

"I would like that," L truthfully informed her.

She blinked at that and gave him a large smile. Her cheeks were pink before giving him a slight wave and heading towards Martin. Wammy walked up behind L and the two left as well. There would be nothing to gain from either of them staying there.


	6. Chapter 6

六

* * *

Fourteen-year-old Skyler stared at the scar on her leg. She brought a hand down ad gently ran her fingers across it. It was smooth, but the texture was off. She pushed her hair back from her face with her free hand and let out a quiet sigh. She looked towards her laptop and frowned.

She had started solving crimes under the detective code of S. Not even two weeks after she started did L show up on the scene. A slight smile appeared on her face at the fact that she was basically playing mental tennis with her best friend. She finished her current cases, because one wasn't enough, and decided to mess with her fellow detective. She opened an email and started to draft something.

**A man was found dead in his study. He was slumped over his desk and a gun was in his hand. There was a cassette recorder on his desk. When the police entered the room and pressed the play button on the tape recorder they heard: "I can't go on. I have nothing to live for." Then there was the sound of a gunshot.**

**How did the detective immediately know that the man had been murdered and it wasn't a suicide?**

It was a famous riddle, well famous by her time. She smiled as she sent him the riddle and sat back in her chair. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Ryuga reading one of her books. He had taken to reading them when she worked cases or did schoolwork. It kept him busy and he seemed to calm down as he read them.

She spared him a glance and blinked when she saw a human at first. She almost fell from her chair in surprise but quickly gathered her wits. He was back to his normal gruesome self. She had stayed up for two days in a row, she was pushing the three-day limit. Perhaps her body was unable to stay up multiple days? It sounded plausible.

She was brought out of her musings by a gentle chiming. She looked towards her laptop and noticed she had received a response. She clicked it and winced at the font he used. It was a bit…much. It fit him far too well.

_**The suicide tape was rewound by the murderer, Miss Holmes.**_

He traced her location. She needed to create a program that would stop that. It would be annoying if someone like Eraldo Coil found her. She clicked her tongue in annoyance.

**You just had to call me out, didn't you? How would you like it if I did that to you? **

_**It would feel terrible.**_

**Then I won't.**

_**You act as though you know me.**_

**Perhaps I do, you remind me of someone I know.**

She wondered if that had been too much. He didn't respond for a while and she moved onto a new case. A young adult female had been found in a corn field in Indiana. It was a murder, obvious due to the blunt force trauma to the back of the head. The slashed clothes indicated that this was a personal attack, or perhaps a…sexual assault that turned into murder.

_**10:00.**_

That had interrupted her as she thought. She looked at the time he had given her, and she let out a low breath. There were two possibilities in play. He either knew it was her, or he thought it was her mother. It was fifty-fifty that either were the possibility. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger before turning back to her case and reading more details. She typed something in and sat back.

That had been the ex-boyfriend that the woman had a restraining order against. It was simple seeing as he didn't have an alibi that could hold up in court. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and slowly drifted to sleep in her chair. Her left foot was on the chair and the knee was resting against her chest. Ryuga looked up from his book and laughed at the sight.

"You are just as strange as usual," He commented, "Nice to see that, Kiddo."

He closed his book, it came with a bookmark built in, and looked over at the screen of her laptop. She had another email, and he clicked on it for her. He was curious as to who was emailing her. It popped up and he leaned in closer to read it.

_**You know the place.**_

He left it up so she would see it first thing when she woke up. He knew that she would want to see something like that, her mind would've classified it as important. He started to float upside down and move through the flat. He found a basket of fruit and swiped one of the pears that sat within. He found that he enjoyed the pears just as much as apples. Ryuga was allowed whatever fruit he wanted, Martin and Sky had informed Antionette and John that he was there, if he stayed out of the main room.

He got fruit out of it, and endless entertainment of human interaction and television. He was inducted into the family and he couldn't help but feel like it was familiar to him. He looked down at his notebook and paged through the pages with a talon-like finger. There were few names written in his notebook, they were all people who were dying already. He was one of those Shinigami that had a fixation on humans.

He killed those that would never get better from their illnesses. He would admit that he hated the fact that some of them had been small children who were born with cancer or other illnesses that were impossible to cure. He always made sure that the children passed in peace and in their sleep. They had already suffered enough in their short life and he had been around humans enough to gain some form of empathy. He blamed the kid who overworked herself to the point where she had been in the hospital due to stress.

She would never admit when her body was breaking down on her. She was starting to gain dark bruises under her eyes because she would stay up days on end to solve crimes and then go to school. He was a bit impressed that she was the top of her class and captain of the fencing team. She even learned how to play the piano and continued to play it when she took breaks from cases.

He thought back to the first time she had collapsed. She had been practicing her footwork for a match when she had fell on the floor. He had almost laughed when she face planted onto hardwood and almost broke her nose, but when she didn't get up immediately, he caused enough racket to get attention. The gym teacher had rushed in at the sound and immediately called an ambulance. The yelling that came from Antionette upon learning what happened had been legendary and it was the first time that he had ever seen her have a panic attack. She had frozen and the heart monitor had sped up and was rapidly beeping. Antionette had calmed down when John came in and sent her a look.

There had been a distance between the two of them after that and he had watched as the mother tiptoed around her daughter. Sky had gone back to normal after her hospital visit. She immediately threw herself back into her cases but made sure to take breaks more often. Sometimes she forgot that there were other detectives. Eraldo Coil had been giving her trouble by discreetly harassing her and attempting to steal cases from her. When L had joined the detective world, he had begun to do the same thing to Eraldo. He knew that was why she had a feeling he knew who she was.

Detective S and L had never worked together but had discreetly helped each other against the other detectives who had been pissed at the way the newcomers solved case after case. Some of the cases had been ones that the older generation of detectives had trouble solving. It had been the main reason why they disliked the two. Ryuga cackled at the thought and put his death note into a small black, leather satchel that had been given to him last Christmas, from his favorite human.

People couldn't get between two mates without the wrath of one or both. He remembered watching a pair of mates, Bonnie and Clyde, and how they had been partners in everything. He tried to think back to another pair of mates, he couldn't think of many that had been that important through history. There had been a pair that had lived as farmers in Japan. The husband farmed and the wife weaved clothes for the children in the village they had lived in. He believed it was where Kyoto was, it had been a long time since he had to think about them.

He heard someone shuffling in the house and looked towards the main bedroom. He still had his pear in his hand and waved it in greeting. Antionette gave him a look before grabbing a glass and filling it with water. She shuffled back to the room and headed back to bed. He snickered to himself and knew that his mere existence threw the logical woman off and made her a bit uneasy.

He was vindictive.

He really hadn't liked watching his human have a panic attack. She had been trembling after the older woman had left the room. He had been ready to defend the human that he oversaw. Death needed her in peek performance to face off with Kira. He had seen the plans she had made. She knew so much about the case and had looked at it from every angle but was struggling to find a way to get enough evidence that could place the notebook in the hand of Yagami Light and Amane Misa. She could deal with a Shinigami, more than she realized, and she would be a force that not many could mess with.

He just needed to have her train up a bit, push her in the right direction to find out what she could do. He didn't know much about some of her abilities, they were something that he would figure out during the Kira case. Death had warned him about that. He made a face, well his wings shifted and that gave the impression of a change of emotion.

Time will only tell what someone who is brought back can do.

Death always did like his riddles. They also liked their sweets. He knew of several times when Death had gone off and visited a French Café or even a small pastry shop to enjoy some sweets. It was always an odd time when that happened. They could always be found by the red mustang that they drove.

He looked towards the window as light started to filter through the flat. The sun was rising, and he wondered how fast time moved when one was having fun. Within a few hours Sky came out of her room while pulling on a black long-sleeved shirt. She was even wearing black pants. He had influenced her wardrobe and made a small goth out of her. He knew her parents thought it was just a phase, but every time he saw her stop outside of a goth themed store that was filled with strange stuffed animals he let out a cackle and began to mentally chant 'one of us, one of us'.

She sent him a raised brow and grabbed a piece of fruit. She needed to get to the tennis court. She had seen the email. She looked at the time and quickly ate the plum in her hand before pulling on a pair of black and white checkered sneakers, grabbing a messenger bag and headed out the flat door. She pushed her hair behind her shoulder and looked at the length as she walked out of the building.

It was down to her waist and she was wondering if she should cut it. Some of the girls at her school were contemplating putting gum in her hair, and if they did that then she would cut it. She would never admit it to anyone, but she rather liked having it long. It didn't make her think of her twin, who had always straightened her hair and kept it in a bob. She was the stylish one of the two.

She ended up at the tennis court. She ended up on her court and contemplated playing a round against herself. She always carried a racquet and a ball since she never knew when she would end up at the courts. Just because she didn't play competitively it didn't mean that she didn't play at all. She put her hands into her pockets and leaned against the brick wall and watched all entrances and exits to the court.

Johnson was still at large, he didn't have a notebook anymore, but he still had his syndicate. She had taken down a few branches of it, those had mainly dealt with drugs and human trafficking. She shivered at the thought of being forced into human trafficking, some of what happened to the girls had been horrible. Those were never fun to solve since she had to see the pictures of how the girls, and sometimes boys, were found.

She watched as names and life spans walked past her and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She no longer got headaches from seeing a large amount of numbers and letters, it was still a bit disconcerting to see all of them. Every so often she would see a Shinigami flying in the sky. They never dropped their notebooks; she would notice if one had been dropped. Ryuga said it would feel like a ping on a radar, she would know that it had been dropped, but not know where.

She noticed a black car parking outside the courts and narrowed her eyes. She could almost make out the names through the tinted glass. She saw a single letter followed by a few more. So, L had figured out who she was. She had a feeling that he would, she turned her face towards the sky and noted that dark grey clouds were starting to form.

"Pity, it was such a nice day too," She muttered.

"You live in England, the land of rain," Ryuga called from across the courts.

She made a face at that and looked at what he was doing. He was playing invisible dodgeball with the tennis balls that were heading towards him. She almost snorted at the sight as he was able to pull off splits. She sometimes forgot that he was flexible.

"Miss Holmes," A monotone stated, the voice was soft but still going through the stages of puberty.

"Didn't I ask you to call me Sky?" She asked.

She turned to face a slightly taller L. He was hunched over with a hand in his pocket and a thumb against the corner of his mouth. The circles under his eyes had gotten worse, not that she could say anything since she knew she had some as well. He was watching her with side eyes and when the sun hit them just right, she was able to see the grey in them.

"I suppose you did," He murmured, his voice a little slurred due to the thumb in the corner of his mouth, "Miss Homes, you became S."

"I did, I knew that you knew, but I don't know how long you've known," She admitted, "There's always something."

"I've known since you started," He admitted, "The way you would formulate emails and explain your reasonings sounded just like you, I must admit, I am impressed."

"I see, it's the same reasoning that I used to figure out that Rue Ryuzaki was actually L," She murmured in slight amusement, "You've read some of my casefiles, even the one that you shouldn't have."

He didn't look away at that and she knew that he knew about the Death Note. This was going to ruin the future and make it harder to find evidence against Kira if he was looking for the same thing. She needed a pair of eyes and ears that would work with her to ensure that L made it out alive and that Kira didn't have his reign of terror. L could possibly mess everything up, but she doubted that he would.

"A weapon of mass destruction that works on supernatural bases," He stated as he removed his thumb from the corner of his mouth, "You even watched it being tested."

"Without video evidence that it did indeed work the way that it should've it couldn't be used as a viable reason in court," She admitted, "I would never wish that kind of death on anybody, even my worst enemy."

"You are too kind," He informed her without expressing any emotion.

He gauged her reaction. The slight widening of her eyes, that he could barely see through her thick bangs, and the ghost of a smile that appeared on her face. She looked tired just by hearing those words. It was a bad trait to have in the world that they worked in, it was one that hadn't been found out by the other detectives. If they found that out, they would use it against her.

"I've been told," She said, "Countless times actually, I'm working on it."

"It's a trait that makes Skyler, Skyler," L informed her, "One that would be missed if it disappeared."

She gained pink hue to her cheeks. She narrowed her eyes at him, and he knew then that she had figured out that he was manipulating the conversation. What she didn't need to know was that he had been telling the truth with that last one. He met her gaze with his own and he realized that she was able to hold her own against him. Her pupils dilated due to the sunlight, and he was able to see flecks of gold mixed with different shades of red in her iris.

"You still play?" She asked him out of the blue, "We did say that we'd play a match again."

"Are you able to play in jeans?" He questioned her.

"I can play in heels," She shrugged, "I think jeans will be easier to play in."

The corners of his lips quirked upwards at that. He held up a finger as she removed the messenger bag from her shoulder and opened it. She sent him a raised brow as he walked back to the black car and opened the car door. She narrowed her eyes and contemplated hitting him the next time she saw him if he was leaving. It was either that or he was getting a racquet to play with. He walked back with a blue racquet in his hand she felt touched that he kept it, she could tell it was the same one.

"You can serve first," He told her.

"He who strikes fist, wins," She stated with a slight smile as she found her tennis ball.

He gained a smirk to his face as she served the ball with accuracy. He hit it back and then it began. Their game of tennis. It was a bit like old times as they ran across the court. They even gained a spectator who had a smile on his face.

Quillish Wammy smiled as his son moved across the court. It had been a while since the teen had been physically active. It was against the one girl that had seemed to capture the young detective's attention when they were children. He knew that L had taken it upon himself to harass the detective that was harassing her. The detectives were getting antsy with the two.

"Fifteen, love," L stated as he scored the first point.

Quillish watched as she gained a pink hue to her cheeks before serving the ball again. He chuckled to himself and found a bench to sit on so he could watch them without having any harm to his back. It was a nice day that seemed like it would change to be one that had the possibility of rain. He heard a ball hit the chain link fence.

"Fifteen, love," Skyler stated with a small smile on her face.

L sent her a look at that before picking the ball up and serving it back. She let out a short laugh that was in unison with Ryuga's cackle. She chased after the ball and hit it back with a backswing. L went after it and decided to go for the win. She was messing with him and he was going to mess back with her full force. She went off the defensive and started playing as aggressively as he was.

Wammy got slightly worried when the two began to move faster. He relaxed when he saw a small smile playing on L's face. The teen was having fun against the young woman. She didn't have the air of a teen around her, she reminded him of a few of the female FBI agents L had worked with. Serious about their work and willing to do everything to get it done.

The match gained two umpires and he couldn't help but chuckle. Ryuga was cackling at the appearance of the two officials as the two played. He cackled even more when L ended up winning. He didn't see any form of anger from the young woman as she let out a low chuckle and picked up the ball.

"It's just like old times," She commented with a small grin.

"Yes…" L mumbled his agreement.

He let a small smile appear on his face, he had figured out how to smile. She looked at him for a few seconds and her's turned fond as she put away her racquet and ball. Her bag was placed on her shoulder and her hands went into her pocket. She was comfortable around him and he couldn't see anything in her body language that said anything different.

"I should get back," She muttered as she looked towards her watch, "I believe we're moving from that flat."

"Moving, towards the manor near Essex, Epping Forest," L commented.

"It seems that my Uncle needs to fix his firewalls if you were able to get that information," She said with a slight grin, "Please don't leak that information, I might have to arrest you if you do."

He looked at her and she raised a brow. He knew then that she was serious about that. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Her serious expression changed, and she gained a laidback expression. He looked towards the sky and noticed the clouds that continued to roll in.

"I'll give you a lift," He muttered.

She looked towards him in slight surprise before following him. Wammy had gotten up from his bench and was back at the car. He opened the door for the two and was happy to see that the manners that he taught L were intact. He had let her in first.

The drive to the Holmes flat was quiet and he looked in the review mirror to see how the two were. There was a comfortable silence between the two. L was in his signature crouch and was looking straight ahead while Sky was looking out the window at the people who walked by on the streets. She was looking at all the names.

L pressed a thumb to his mouth in thought. She reminded him of one of the children at Wammy's that had been brought in to be his replacement should anything happen to him. It was a harsh way to refer to that, but it was true. That boy would look over a person's head and instantly know their name. He knew that was placed in her case file, something about the eyes of a Shinigami.

He had read the entire thing and then thought about how much sense it made, and how confusing it was. She had been able to find a notebook that could kill someone just by knowing their face and name. She called it the worlds number one weapon of mass genocide. He had watched the video in the file, and he had seen the way her hands had been shaking at the sight of the man's dead body. She had a front seat to see the way the heart attack played out.

She had made sure to document such a thing so that if any deaths in the future were similar than they would have something to use in court. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the car stopped. The door was opened, and he turned towards the girl that was getting out of the car. His eyes widened when she paused before moving towards him. An arm around his shoulder made itself known and it slowly retracted as she finally got out of the car.

"See you around, Rue," She smiled at him before closing the door behind her and heading towards the flat.

He had frozen when she had given him a one-armed hug. He wasn't the biggest fan of human contact and he knew that was the reason why he tensed. He looked towards the building with wide eyes as the door closed behind a trail of dark red hair. She used strawberry scented products and it remained in the air minutes after she had left the car.

Wammy started driving away from the flats and noticed the expression on L's face. His son looked contemplative. Then a small smile formed on the teens face. That was something he had never seen before. It was starting to wonder how this was going to end.

His money was on when they were either sixteen or seventeen.


	7. Chapter 7

**_I was reading the Manga and I noticed that in early chapters L had eyebrows. I wonder if they are like Matt Smiths and that they just disappeared halfway and make guest appearances in his life._**

**_17-7-2020: It's been a while, huh. I started University and as such my time was spent on a different fic and my schoolwork. I have a few weeks until my classes start up and decided to work on this fic (not as often) and two Naruto ones. I've forgotten how this character was originally written and as such she's going to be a bit OOC and I apologize for that. _**

* * *

七

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Skyler looked around the room in the manor she had taken occupancy in. It had a dark color scheme that was very gothic in nature. She had gone from someone who was very modern and minimalistic to someone who enjoyed the look of gothic furniture and architecture. Ryuga had also enjoyed the extra space and the way he could blend in with some of the furniture.

She was currently working on a few cases, about ten, and had multiple laptops open and was typing away at different ones. She was solving cases just as quickly as she was taking them. She had been working that way since she finally graduated primary, at fifteen. It had only been three years and she was already ahead of the detective game. She even worked one with L.

It had been a string of murders in France. He had her help with talking to the authorities in the area. She had worked with an in-between man who went by the code name Watari. It had been Wammy and she was slightly amused that he was using his adoptive father as an in-between. She had made sure that whenever the older man was around that he had a cup of tea and something to eat. She didn't want his health to be in danger since the two of them had crazy sleep schedules.

She paused when a small notification popped up on her personal laptop. She looked at it and noticed that it was from L. He was using an email with the name **RueBird**, she used _AkaSora_. She knew that he had probably rolled his eyes at that. She couldn't help but mess with him.

It was like Ryuga said, humans had such entertaining reactions to things.

"Has Death written back?" She asked the Shinigami as he lazed on the sofa in her room.

"He sent you a novel," He replied as he tossed it to her.

She caught it and looked at the black leather-bound book. It was heavy, the pages were thick and made from a material that had to be parchment. Death had given her an old book that would tell her how to control what she could do. She would be the first to admit that it would be nice to turn off the ability to see the names of those around her. It was getting harder to call L _Rue_ because the name above his head said something different.

She placed it in her lap, and she turned to her personal laptop to see what L had sent her. With a few quick swipes of her finger on the touch pad she had opened the Email. She knew that he had been having trouble with one of the children at Wammy's. He had eyes like hers, and she knew that he had read about the Shinigami eyes. That had been something that had gotten her attention when she first read the email explaining to her about the boy. That had to be BB. She let a shiver go down her spine at the murders that BB had done. It had been a series of clever murders, but it was extremely twisted since he killed a thirteen-year-old to leave a clue to L.

It was small picture of a murder scene. She studied it for a few seconds before noticing something. The blood surrounding the body, it belonged to a young male with pale skin, was splattered around in a pattern that was very close to words. She could see her name in the blood, and she sat back. This wasn't the usual actions of Johnson.

He was working with someone new. She brought a hand up to her hair and began to curl a strand around her finger. She began to bite her lower lip as she worried about who it could be working with him. Another email popped up on her screen and she opened it.

It was another murder scene, this one of a young woman with long red hair. It was a few shades lighter than her's, but it really looked remarkably similar to hers. She stopped twirling a piece around her finger and made a face. She was in danger, that much she was sure of.

**_Thank you for the heads up._**

She didn't get an immediate response and she looked towards the Shinigami that was lounging about. She then looked towards the fogged-up glass of her room window. It was December and the grounds were dusted in a light snow. She got out of the chair and decided to look out and see if the snow had increased. It had been a long time since she had made snowmen. She had a feeling that her mother would find it hilarious if she were to make them during the night to startle her father.

There was a meter of fresh snow upon the ground and she grinned to herself. She looked towards her door where a black pea-coat was hanging up. She looked down at her pajama's, the pants were black and covered in small cartoonish strawberries and her shirt was a simple black long-sleeved cotton shirt. She moved towards her dresser and closet and found a pair of black pants, wool socks, and a black and red flannel shirt. She looked at her laptop and grabbed the gloves that sat next to it.

"Want to build a snowman army with me, Ryuga?" She asked the Shinigami.

He jumped up from the couch and headed outside. She chuckled to herself and gently pulled on a pair of thick black socks before pulling on her black snow boots. She spared a glimpse at her laptop to see if L had sent her anymore emails. He had and she opened it.

**I have a plan, don't leave the estate.**

** _Okay._**

She didn't add anything else to that and pulled her gloves on. She headed out of her room and quickly made her way out of the manor. Ryuga was already moving some of the snow as she started to create some snowmen herself. Within a couple of minutes, she could feel the fingers of her gloves growing damp and cold. She ignored it and continued to roll the snow into a ball.

Ryuga cackled as he plunked a smaller ball on top of his snowman. It was a bit lopsided; he had never really built one before, but it looked like it was supposed to. He was having the time of his life creating snowmen. He had made four already while Sky was on her first one.

She was gaining a pink hue to her cheeks and nose the longer she spent outside. It didn't bother her much, being dead had been far colder, and she happily created her third snowman. This one she made to look a bit like L. If he ever came by the estate, then he would probably figure out that was made in his image. That was unlikely to happen, so she supposed she would be okay for a while.

She looked towards the estate and made a face. She wanted to leave the large mansion and find a home of her own that was secluded enough that no one would be able to find her unless she wanted them to. She liked having space and she wanted to be able to speak to Ryuga without someone looking at her with pity. She knew that her parents didn't even realize that they were doing it.

That made it worse in her opinion.

Snow was falling once again, and she shivered as she felt it hit the top of her head and melt in her hair. She looked up and noticed that the clouds were a dusty grey that were hard to see in the dark. It had been the middle of the night when she felt the need to make snowmen. Time was relative and she knew that for a fact. She had waited for a very long time to be able to have people take her seriously.

She was also waiting to see L again. Ryuga was right, when someone was aware of being mates, they could feel the distance. She was far more aware of it as she got older. Sometimes she wanted to find where he was and play tennis with him or some chess.

She sighed and plopped down in the snow and laid back. She was watching as it fell. She no longer felt like making snowmen. She felt a snowflake hit her nose and she scrunched her nose a bit before smiling softly. Her eyes closed for a few seconds as she enjoyed the cold.

Her breaths were coming out in slow white clouds that would rise in the air for a few seconds before dissipating. Ryuga paused in his actions of creating a snowman and looked towards his human. She had made herself depressed by thinking about the detective. He cackled quietly at that as she continued to lay on the ground, he was beginning to wonder if she had fallen asleep.

He looked towards the security camera that began to move. He could hear it moving behind him. Red eyes turned to look, and he noticed that it was pointed right at his human. L decided to check in on her. He did that often; it wasn't out of concern but curiosity. The man did know what concern was, he just knew that she was able to take care of herself, but even he wondered sometimes.

Ryuga knew that the detective was trying to figure out what she was doing in the snow. Laying down in it, during the middle of the night. She opened her eyes and looked towards him before turning her attention to the camera. A small hand was raised, and she sent it a small wave before looking back towards the sky. She was just enjoying the time that her mind would shut up for a few seconds.

She noticed that the sky was starting to lighten up and realized that she had stayed out all night. She quietly grumbled as she pushed herself to her feet. She watched as the camera moved back into position and a tiny smile appeared on her face. She hadn't been expecting him to be keeping an eye out for her, she appreciated it more than he'd ever know.

"Ever think about getting piercings?" Ryuga asked her.

She gave him a blank look at that before raising a brow. Ten minutes later she was holding her head over a sink as her ear bled from her new bar piercing. She would never admit that she had always wanted one, she thought they had been cool but never had the courage to do so.

"That was suspiciously quick," She informed Ryuga as he hung upside down from the ceiling, "How many times have you pierced someone's ear?"

He cackled in response and she frowned at him. Of course, he wasn't going to answer her, what else was she expecting. She sighed and grabbed something to stop the bleeding or at least keep it from getting all over her clothing. She wanted some sleep before heading back to working on her cases.

She had to wait around ten minutes before the bleeding stopped. Sure, her ear was throbbing a little, but she'd put some Neosporin on it when she got up. She wasn't too worried about it. Granted, that was how quite a few people died in her time.

She eventually fell asleep, much to the amusement of Ryuga. He stood there for a few seconds before moving towards her full bookshelf and looking at the titles. He hadn't read all of them yet, the sci-fi novels hadn't been touched by him seeing as he wanted to finish the fantasy books before moving onto another genre. The number of books that she owned wasn't surprising, if she hadn't become a detective she would've been a wonderful book shop owner.

It was one of the few things she absolutely adored.

He heard her shift in her sleep and grabbed a large fantasy book before leaving the room to let her rest. She was going to stress about the string of murders that Johnson was accountable for. It didn't help that she couldn't pinpoint his position in the world. One minute the man was in England and the next he was in Canada. If he could sit still she would have no problems, and that was her problem. She wasn't thinking ahead to where he was going to be.

Five hours later he heard the chair in her room squeak as she sat down in it. He put a talon in the book he was reading and headed up to her sofa to be a presence. She was typing at one of the laptops before looking at another one. She was working different cases and moving the police from behind a screen, and if anyone had even watched her they would've found it terrifying that one person could end up having that much power. Her long fingers froze above the keys of one of the laptops as her lips parted in thought.

"Ukraine," She softly muttered, "He's going to Ukraine next."

"How'd you guess that?" Ryuga questioned.

"I didn't guess," She gently huffed as she went back to typing, "It's the trail of bodies that he's leaving behind, they weren't in English speaking countries…it took me a while to recognize the language, he's in the Slavic countries and Ukraine is next he just left Russia."

Ryuga grinned at that, she was finally thinking ahead of Johnson. If she arrested him and brought down the rest of his syndicate as S, then she would gain more notoriety around the world and more cases would be sent her way. Her hair was being curled around her finger as she thought and contemplated sending an email to the Ukrainian police but decided against it. They'd never believe her, and she didn't want to stir up panic, especially if she ended up being wrong.

She released the strand of hair around her finger and went back to typing on her laptops, she was back to solving cases as if she hadn't said anything. She quickly went through case after case and didn't take a break until a small ringing came from one of the laptops. She had set a reminder on it so she wouldn't miss a meal. It also helped her to spend some time with her family. Though Antoinette was out of the house more often then inside.

"Oh, hey there," Marty greeted as she entered the kitchen, "You look like shit."

"I'll try not to be insulted," She rolled her eyes as she opened the fridge and grabbed a container of eggs whites, onion, mushrooms, and cheese, "Why're you here?"

"You scared your father with the army of snowmen outside," He chuckled, "He called me over to keep an eye on you and to tell you that you need to take breaks sometimes."

"Well, I'm taking a break until two," She said, "I was just going to read until then."

"Another occult book?"

"Yes."

He didn't say anything as she began to make an egg white omelet. Even if he wasn't as observant as Antionette, he could tell that she was bothered by something. She had a thoughtful expression on her face as she easily cut up the onion and mushrooms before tossing them into the pan with the egg whites. It didn't take long for a delicious smell to fill the air and his stomach let out a growl. He knew better than to ask her for some, she would just send him a look. Her whole family refused to allow him to use their kitchen.

It wasn't his fault that he burned everything he cooked; it was like god was out for him when he cooked.

She finished cooking and went to enjoy her meal inside her room. She was a bit too preoccupied to stay and chat. Sky let out a soft sigh as she entered her room and tossed an apple to Ryuga, she had swiped that when Marty wasn't paying attention. She sat down in her chair and began to eat her lunch. It was good, but lacking in flavor.

She was always missing something when she made regular food, but when she made baked goods they came out great. She didn't understand how that worked, and she didn't want to know. She scratched at her cheek and turned to the tome that Death had sent her. It was the best time to learn what she could do. She was somewhat glad that they responded as fast as they did.

She opened it and slowly began to read. It was just an introduction at first, a bit like _welcome to the world of reapers!_ she wasn't an enthusiastic fan of being called a _reaper,_ but she understood why that term could be used for her. She had died, and yet was still walking around. She could see life spans and the names of those that owned them, she truly was a reaper. Yet, she didn't take life away. In fact, she was different from the reapers of history. She tried to protect life.

She wasn't looking forward to learning more about the reapers. They had all accepted the same deal she had. Change things for the better or make them worse. She was one of the few people that was working to change things for the better.

She hoped that she never met them under any circumstance.


End file.
